A Jinchuuriki's Tears
by M.Twain
Summary: Abused by the first person she trusted, Naruto slowly edges along the path to recovery that is littered with adventures. FemaleNarutoxSasuke
1. Chapter 1

**Please be gentle on the flames, I wasn't originally going to post this story until I'd written 23 pages, so I decided it was worth it. It was born of just a theory, until I found some way to make it work.**

**The story includes disturbing things, like rape, child pregnancy, and some adult themes, so if you're not into that or are not yet a teenager, please do not bother reading this.**

**Pairings: FEMALE Naruto and Sasuke, the rest undecided and most definitely minor (I may post a poll if the story picks up for characters like Sakura and some others)**

**Rating: Mature**

**Mental state of the writer, not likely to enjoy flames or unconstructive criticism, so keep those ideas to yourself. If you don't like it, there is this crazy invention called 'backspace' which means you can return to browsing for a different fanfiction to enjoy that's more up your alley.**

* * *

His lips caressed her.

He was gentle. How strange was that? Someone was being gentle with her. No one was ever gentle with her.

He wanted her to kiss him so she kissed him back; she ran her hands threw his hair. She adored his every feature. Once the painful part ended he loved to just cuddle her. He loved to kiss her.

She knew she was ugly; people couldn't even bear to look at her. People insulted her, hated her, avoided her, and hurt her.

He hurt her too, far, far worse, but he was gentle.

He was moaning a name.

Someone else's name.

There was some lucky girl out there that he loved. He told her each time he came over. This was only the third time, the third time in two months, but although it hurt, although it was horrible for days afterward, Naruto accepted it. She would take any affection she could get. He was the only one who cared. He didn't love her though, she could accept it. No one loves a monster.

His snow hair tickled her nose, and she would have giggled if there wasn't a foreign tongue swirling around in her mouth. She didn't like that. She didn't like the painful part either.

All she wanted was the warm arms around her. She wanted him to fall asleep so she could pretend. Naruto loved to pretend, she loved to wrap herself around him as he slept. When it was safer. She would look into his eyes and pretend. She pretended he was her father, and she had had a nightmare so he came in to comfort her. She pretended he was her lover, and she was an older girl, even a woman, and so it was more right. She pretended he was her best friend, and that he was here to comfort her and to love her. She pretended he wasn't a monster who haunted her every waking moment.

He was standing over her again. He was standing, leaning over her.

Had she fallen asleep?

Mizuki grinned at her, white teeth flashing deviously. "Well, monster, wasn't that lovely?"

Naruto couldn't bring herself to smile, she just stared at him.

There was the sound of a zipper as Mizuki pulled on his pants. "Don't forget the test tomorrow, chapters thirteen and fourteen." He whispered awkwardly, looking away from the tiny creature.

Naruto just stared at him with wide, blue eyes.

* * *

_There is something wrong with me. _Naruto thought, puking for the twentieth morning straight. _What is wrong with me?_

* * *

Ino smirked at the young blonde, walking up to her deviously while swirling her figure around in a rude gesture she had learned from her mother. "Hello, fatso." She greeted sweetly. "Still wearing that bulky orange jacket, I see."

_I'm only wearing the jacket because you told me to. Because you said fat girls should hide their weight. _Naruto thought. "Hello, Ino-san." She smiled piteously.

Always present at Ino's side was Sakura, and the pink-haired girl had to bulge in. "You smell like puke, as always." She smirked.

Naruto leaned down. She sat on the swing, the one that was always abandoned, because no one would touch it after she'd used it once. It was after school, and the two girls were after her again, like always.

"You really need someone to monitor what you're eating, fatso." Sakura added. "Just because you don't have parents doesn't mean you can do whatever you want."

Naruto traced small circles in the dirt with her foot.

Ino rudely waved two fingers in front of the miserable blonde's eyes. "Hey! Hey! Fatso, we're talking to you!"

"I'm sorry, Ino-san, Sakura-san, what were you saying?" Naruto asked politely. _Why am I so calm? Why am I so polite? Oh… I'm so tired… my fat belly is like a leech, sucking me dry…_

Her belly was a large bump, very big on a creature so small, but in reality not that huge. She wore a large orange jacket to cover it up, and gray shorts that went to her knees with her socks rolled all the way up to hide her swollen legs. The tiny shoes she wore were just that, tiny in comparison to the rest of her. She looked like a miserable creature, drained of everything. Her hair was in disarray, her face in a permanent scowl, her eyes glared out from under purple skin; her image was just like that of some kind of zombie child.

And so, sensing misery, the two girls, bullied and hated by the others, turned to the only one smaller than themselves, the only one they could manage to hurt with their flimsy insults.

And Naruto took the pain, and the hurt, and all the hatred and she buried them up in a secret place in her heart, a place she only showed to Mizuki. She only showed her pain to the one person who would wrap her up in her arms, who would cuddle her and let her cry on his shoulder, and who would apologize to her.

Apologize and apologize.

* * *

Eventually, she found that she couldn't walk. Curling up in the best sort of a ball she could to support a swollen belly, one nearly as large as she was, she cried silently into a pillow, dreaming nightmares of a monster surging out of her stomach and killing her.

* * *

Mizuki fed her.

Mizuki gave her water.

Mizuki apologized.

* * *

Eventually, pain began.

At first it was nothing more than a tug, jerking her to wakefulness. Silently, she prayed that the monster in her stomach would not kill her, and then she fell back into an exhausted sleep.

Then the tug returned, harder and fiercer, causing the emancipated child to cry out in fear. But the tug was soon done, and it would not return to bother her for another week.

The first sign of the beginning of her worst suffering was a splashing about her legs. She was not able to walk to relieve herself, and Mizuki would normally clean her messes for her before picking her up and dumping her in a bathtub filled with cold water. Mizuki would always apologize and then grimace at her, telling her how ugly and disgusting she was and he would wonder aloud why he even bothered. But it was for the evidence, he told her, I have to make sure it's done, and your damn chakra won't let me kill the creature. So Naruto was unconcerned about the splashing about her legs, until some kind of warning in her head told her that it was time, that it was happening, and that she wasn't ready yet.

It was horrible, a screaming weight slammed down on her. It was an agony beyond anything she had ever felt. It was a monster, a creature pressing against her and no matter how many times she hit her stomach, screamed, or pushed it refused to go away. It refused to leave her. Pain. Agony. Horror.

Naruto cried out in the night, and she labored for days, it was unrelentless, unyielding. Eventually, she broke herself. She found a sharp splinter and she cut herself open where the monster inside her was trying to leave, and she crushed one of her hip bones with something she found that was hard. And so, with absolute agony, it soon ended.

Naruto collapsed, limp and exhausted, but something inside her told her not to fall asleep. Something inside her told her to look. Hearing something cry out, Naruto's gaze dropped to the ugliest thing she had ever seen. But despite that, for some reason, Naruto adored it.

And then she succumbed to unconsciousness.

Mizuki was there when she woke up. "Don't tell." He told her. "Don't tell and you can go back to school and forget everything."

"Where…?" Naruto croaked out.

"Gone." Mizuki sighed. "Gone for good. It's over." Some giant weight seemed to lift off of his shoulder and he smiled in relief.

Naruto's body began to shake and her eyes widened in horror. "No, no, no, no!" She cried. "I want-"

"We don't always get what we want, do we?" Mizuki snapped. "I wanted a nice, easy fuck and instead I got nine months of dealing with a girl who _should _have been too young."

Naruto blinked at him in confusion, before repeating, "I want." She paused when Mizuki didn't react and added, "Mine." Her throat was killing her, and that was all she could manage.

Mizuki bit his lip thoughtfully as he looked at her. "Fine." He eventually answered. "But if you tell anyone where you got it, or anything about me, I will kill it _and_ you. Understand?"

_Kill me? _"Yes." _Why is he acting so strange?_

Mizuki stood up and headed to the door.

* * *

Naruto smiled down at the bundle of blue in her hands. "Thank you." She told Mizuki, smiling up at him.

Mizuki blinked in surprise. "Um. Yeah. Right." He mumbled awkwardly, looking away from her.

Naruto smiled down at the creature. Snow-blonde hair gently framed a lightly tanned face, light blue eyes grinned down at her, and a tiny yawn escaped, revealing perfect, white teeth. "You are a beautiful thing." Naruto whispered down to it.

There was a loud noise, and the young girl's eyes connected with furious brown eyes. "You," Mizuki growled, "you will not tell anyone, or I will kill that _beautiful thing_ in your arms, got it?"

The little girl nodded.

Mizuki smirked at her, and he tugged at her shirt with one hand, with the other grabbing one of her breasts, which were quite developed for her age but still small. "You honestly think you're going to be able to milk that thing with only that?"

Naruto bit her lip to prevent herself from crying out.

Mizuki laughed and let her go. He was too strong for her, he truly had her completely under his power and he enjoyed that feeling of control immensely. "You, little child," he whispered, "You are going to have a hard time with that thing, especially since no one will help you."

Naruto nodded dimly. She would have agreed to anything, if only to have the approval of the man who had once been gentle with her.

* * *

She saw Mizuki at the Academy, she tried to smile at him and she tried to speak to him, but he ignored her. The only acknowledgement she now received from him were small envelopes, containing small amounts of yen, that she found in her bag every once in a while.

The leech's mouth reached under her shirt, and he sucked. "You take everything." Naruto whispered to the leech. "You take everything." She smiled down at it. Despite eating the best she could, she was exhausted from early morning wakening, the terror of not knowing what to do when the leech cried, and the constant feeding the leech seemed to require.

* * *

"I'm coming!" Naruto yelled, running into the bedroom in the apartment where she picked up a wailing creature. "Can't I just leave you along to go to school?" She wondered angrily as she realized she would have to wash his blanket again. _There must be an easier way to do this…_

* * *

Naruto ran up to a woman who was carrying a creature exactly like her own leech. "Excuse me, ma'am." Naruto asked in a quiet voice, and the woman turned to the adorable, blond little girl, cooing at her softly with a "yes, adorable?"

Naruto blanched slightly at the woman's strange nickname for her, but she chose to ignore it. "I was just wondering what that was." She asked, indicating to the leech the woman was carrying.

The woman laughed with a bright, tinkling sound. "This, cutie, is my baby."

_Baby? The leech was a baby? _"And how do you get one of them, ma'am?" Naruto asked politely.

The woman blushed. "Well," she relied awkwardly, "that's a question for your mother and father, little missy. Where are they?" The woman looked around awkwardly, realizing there wasn't anyone nearby to claim the child.

"Well then, how do you take care of one?" Naruto asked.

"You don't have to worry about that for a long time." The woman shook her head. "Run along to your mother, cutie." She added, walking away.

* * *

_Why would I have to worry about that later? I need help with the leech now!_ Naruto allowed tears to fall at the injustice, but she wiped them away as soon as they were shed.

"Get back in your box, leech." Naruto commanded, struggling against the force of will of a moderately healthy young toddler who had recently learned to walk and was desperate to prove his ability to his mother, even though she constantly told him not to.

She tried to pick up the toddler and put him back inside a cardboard box by her bed. The box was filled with blankets and a single, homemade toy that seemed to be a sock with another sock stuck inside it. "You're a monkey!" Naruto growled, as the toddler crawled up her side and attempted to give her a big, wet kiss on her whiskered cheek.

"Ma!" The toddler squealed in pleasure.

"Oh, wonderful. _Now _you're starting to talk." Naruto growled, although a wonderful feeling arose in her chest as she realized her own baby had started to speak. "You're not going to shut up soon, I know it."

"Ma! Ma! Ma!" The toddler replied.

Naruto planted a big kiss on the toddler's forehead, and then proceeded to tie him into his box with the skills she had just learned at the Academy.

* * *

For the twelfth time in a row, Naruto found herself staring at a red 'F' on her test. For the third time in a row, she forgot to hide the paper as soon as she saw it, and Ino, who was sitting right next to her, caught a glimpse.

"Ha!" Ino cried, covering up her own B-. "It looks like the fatty bimbo failed another test!"

Naruto smiled at her. "I'm just special, I guess." She replied flippantly, allowing only the tiniest hint of a frown to escape her lips.

Like everyday, the students began a fairly stupid game without a name that everyone played. The game was a contest of who got what score, but there didn't seem to be any logic to it, sense Naruto learned to brag and blurt out her low scores, and so did others who struggled, making light of their sufferings.

Sakura, receiving an absolutely perfect score, waved it around and boasted loudly. "A _hundred_!" She cried out. "I got a _hundred_."

"Well, even the nerds have their days, eh Sakura-san?" Naruto announced.

Several people laughed and chuckled, but the resident members of the Sasuke Fan Club glared at Naruto, and some girl the blonde didn't know shouted out that Naruto was the stupidest girl in the world because _Sasuke_ also got a hundred, and Naruto is a big breasted bimbo too dumb to like the _last Uchiha_.

Naruto just blushed, but she replied, "Funny, I thought the girls who swooned after the stuck up bastards end up with bastards, and no one thinks they're that smart after that."

Crack!

Naruto's blue eyes instantly grew wide as a stinging sensation painfully surged across her face. Looking up, she saw Ino with a smug look on her face and an extended hand. Ino had slapped her for calling Sasuke a bastard.

Ino stuck out her tongue.

Naruto stood up quickly, her fists clenched, ready for a fight, and Ino backed away quickly, knowing that when Naruto got angry in a fight she fought dirty. Naruto stopped herself though, and with an incredible amount of self control she sat back down in her seat.

She had been told that if she got into another fight she would be suspended, and that it would hinder her chances at graduating. Ino came from a wealthy family that would be well prepared to make sure Naruto didn't graduate if the blue-eyed blonde hurt their daughter, and Naruto had no one to speak up in her defense.

So she swallowed whatever small ounce of pride she had left, and sat back down, opening herself to the vulnerability of insults attained from eight out of ten female members of her class. But she had to deal with it.

Graduating and becoming a ninja was the only way she would raise enough money to take care of the little leech. She had to graduate to someday send her baby to the Academy, where undoubtedly he would do far better than she did, since Mizuki was a wonderful Chuunin up for a promotion, and he was the leech's father. She would deal with being an idiot if only she could make things better later on.

* * *

She couldn't buy baby food once the leech needed it. If she tried, the clerks would stare at her funny, and if they were from the older generation they would simply run the baby food through the scanner, but refuse to give it to her, causing her to pay dearly for her folly.

So if she wanted to buy carrot baby food, she bought carrots and milk and smashed them together at home.

If she wanted pea baby food, she bought pas and milk and smashed them together at home.

She had four jars in the cabinet, each labeled something different, like 'Carrots', 'Peas', 'Green Beans', and 'Potatoes'. She wasn't sure whether potatoes were actually a kind of baby food, but they were incredibly easy to mash.

Ramen and rice were the cheapest things out there, and she was extraordinarily pleased with the fact that she adored ramen. If she didn't like the cheap food it would have been a lot of unneeded suffering.

* * *

She failed the graduation test.

She failed her son.

She failed Mizuki.

She failed the Hokage.

She failed herself.

She failed Iruka.

She failed everyone but the aggravating other Academy students, who were collecting money from the bets they'd made.

She'd most definitely failed Hinata, who had been the only one to bet for her, the others betting most of their money against her. And she'd failed, and now Hinata was dishing out cash to a bunch of joyful creatures that had already made ninja, and were now being paid for their wonderful foresight in the failure of the class idiot.

She was so tired.

* * *

Mizuki walked up to her on the swing and Naruto's heart swelled up with hope that she didn't mind showing on her face. She didn't mind, because it was _him_.

"You know, Iruka-san was being rather cruel, there's another way to pass, there's another graduation test." Mizuki told her.

And like a blind fool, she trusted him.

* * *

Mizuki was wrong, he was wrong. How could he be right?! How could she be a monster! He was trying to kill her. Iruka saved her?

* * *

WHAT AM I?!

* * *

Iruka smiled at her despite all of his bandages. "You understand now?" He asked calmly.

Naruto smiled back at him brightly. "Yes, I'm a… a _jinchuuriki_, a vessel for the monster, _not _the monster itself." She answered.

The man ruffled her hair playfully. "Yup. That's it."

With a pleasant groan, Naruto finished off her last, and tenth, bowl at Ichiraku. "That was delicious." She sighed contentedly.

"Just make sure to watch your weight. I still remember a couple years back at the Academy." Iruka advised her.

Naruto giggled. "I'm not gunna get fat like _that_ again, Iruka-sensei." She told him. A sparkle suddenly entered her eyes as she realized something, "Iruka-sensei! Mizuki's gone, right? He'll never come back?"

Iruka nodded, frowning slightly at the familiar way Naruto referred to the white haired traitor.

"I have something _wonderful_ to show you!" Naruto yelled joyously. "I've never been able to show anyone before, because Mizuki told me he'd kill it and me if I did." She whispered.

Alarm bells rang in Iruka's head, and throwing a random amount of yen onto the counter, he leaned down to connect eyes with Naruto. "Mizuki told you he'd kill you?" He asked.

Naruto nodded exuberantly. "And I've never shown or told anyone before! But I can show you now, 'cause he's gone and I'm a ninja now!" She replied, grabbing Iruka's hand and fairly dragged him along, much to the chagrin of the chuunin.

Naturally, she came to an abrupt halt in front of the door to her apartment, and Iruka nearly slammed into the wall at the sudden lack of movement. Naruto put a finger to her grinning lips, telling Iruka to be silent. To please her, Iruka put his own finger to his own lips, signifying that he understood, all while his eyes twinkled with merriment and curiosity.

Naruto slid her key into the door, and stepped into her apartment with the utmost care. She gingerly stepped inside, and Iruka stepped in after her.

Iruka was surprised at the state of the apartment. At first, it seemed to be in complete disarray, but then he realized that there was a point to it. Blankets and pillows littered the floor to provide a sort of carpet, a thick but ragged table cloth covered the table, any and all sharp objects, pans, cans, bottles, or anything like that were stacked in the highest places possible, and all the kitchen appliances were impeccably clean.

He smiled at the young girl, and playfully ruffled up her hair while she pretended not to like it. "So where is this 'beautiful thing'?" He asked.

"He has a box in the bedroom, I don't let him out of there unless I'm home, even though I monkey-proofed the house." Naruto replied, taking only a few steps across the room to reach the bedroom.

"Monkey-proofed?" Iruka asked quietly. "You have a pet monkey?"

Naruto stared at him. "No." She answered. "Why would I have a pet monkey?"

"Nevermind." Iruka waved of the question. He stretched a bit, wincing as his back ached, but the inquisitive smile soon returned. "So, where is the 'beautiful thing'?"

"Here." Naruto opened the bedroom, and Iruka followed her inside.

The bedroom was filled with even more blankets and pillows than the living room. Excluding some clothes that had been thrown on the top of a shelf, there were only two pieces of furniture, a small bed, and a rather large cardboard box filled with blankets. Other than that, there seemed to be a solitary ball, one that appeared to have been stolen from the Academy, and a rubber shuriken. On the bed, however, was the most interesting thing.

Wearing a worn down gray shirt, a tiny little boy slept in the center of the bed, lying flat on a pillow. He had snow-blonde hair that was in disarray, and he was clutching what appeared to be a toy, even though it was a sock with a smiling face and another sock stuffed inside it, and he was drooling all over the bed in the supreme image of adorableness.

"That's my leech." Naruto whispered to the stunned chuunin.

"Naruto, that's a _child_." Iruka whispered back, both horrified and confused.

The snow-blonde haired boy stirred slightly at the sound of their voices, but he merely waved his hand slightly as if to ward off a buzzing fly and he settled back into sleep.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Naruto asked, staring up at a frozen Iruka. "He's _mine_, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka took a deep breath. "Where did you find him?" He asked.

The young girl frowned. "What are you talking about?" She asked.

"Where did you get the boy?" Iruka clarified.

Naruto took a moment to contemplate the wording, but eventually she figured it out, although she took the meaning a completely different way. "I got him from Mizuki-sensei's… he's mine and Mizuki's." She answered, too shy to use words like 'sex' or 'rape', since she'd long ago realized that that was what had transpired between her and Mizuki.

Iruka gulped. "Right." He answered. "Naruto, you should have told someone."

"But Mizuki told me he'd kill both of us if I said a word!" Naruto protested.

The chuunin sighed loudly, and ran a hand through his brown hair to calm himself down. "All right, do you know where Mizuki got him?" He asked, trying to concentrate on the problem.

"_I_ take care of him, not Mizuki-sensei. Mizuki may be the father, but he's a terrible person!" Naruto argued.

"Yes, Mizuki is a terrible person." Iruka agreed. "So, Mizuki was the father… why did he ask you to take care of his child? Was he afraid because he was getting married… or…?" He left the question hanging.

"I _asked_. Mizuki wanted to just forget, but I didn't. I love the leech-monkey… baby… thing…" Naruto ended lamely, not sure exactly what to call her son.

"You asked to take care of the child?" Iruka stared at her. "Naruto, why would you _do _that? You're an orphan! With an orphan's allowance! How could you think you'd be able to raise him!"

Naruto glared at him. "Well, I've been doing perfectly fine for three years! He's healthy, happy, and he can speak tons of words!"

"But you can't just take a child away from its mother!" Iruka argued.

"That's precisely why I asked for him!" Naruto growled.

Iruka stared at her, and in the long pause the boy lying on the bed woke up. He rolled over, gave a sweet yawn, and at the sight of Iruka his eyes grew wide. "Ma?" He whispered.

"This is Iruka." Naruto smiled. "He's a friend."

The little boy yawned widely, and then sat up, smiling at Iruka. "Hewo." He said.

"Hello." Iruka replied.

"Wanna pway wit me?" The boy asked hopefully. "I pway lots! I have a ball! And Socky-chan!" The boy exclaimed.

"What's your name?" Iruka asked him.

The boy blinked.

"Naruto, did you name him?" Iruka turned to Naruto.

Naruto blushed. "Was I supposed to?" She asked.

Iruka gulped, took a long look at the newly instated blonde and the snow-blonde child, and something seemed to click. It seemed impossible, but… "Naruto?" Iruka asked quietly.

"Yes?" Naruto looked up at him, her large blue eyes filled with unasked questions.

"Are you this child's mother? Did you give birth to him?" Iruka asked her.

"Hai." Naruto nodded. "When I was ten on the twelfth of December." She informed him.

Iruka looked down at her, his expression unreadable. "Are you certain?"

"Am I certain I went through childbirth?" She asked, her eye twitching angrily.

"Ma?" The boy whispered, staring at the exchange with wide blue eyes.

With a soft smile on her face, Naruto walked carefully over to the boy and picked him up with a groan. She locked eyes with Iruka-sensei while simultaneously pulling the boy's thumb out of his mouth. "I will name him Saru, after Jiji." Naruto announced.

Oblivious to all of this, the newly dubbed Saru again attempted to stick his thumb in his mouth, but Naruto once again blocked him.

"Do you mind if I tell the Hokage?" Iruka asked softly.

Naruto shook her head. "No. Just don't tell Ino-pig. Or Sasuke-teme. Or anyone else who made it. I don't want them to know!" She exclaimed, and then her voice softened to a mumble. "They already call me Fat Bimbo, its bad enough they think that of me, but if they knew I'd lost my… my virginity they'd probably die of laughter."

Iruka stepped down onto his knees and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "They call you what?"

Naruto sniffed. "Well, when I was getting… Saru, I got really fat. Pregnant, you know? And so, Ino-_pig _thought it would be funny to make fun of me, and now everyone just calls me Pudgy-chan, and _Ino_ and her stupid possey call me the Fat Bimbo." She growled at the end, petting Saru's head gingerly as she did so. Wiping away tears with her sleeve, Naruto shakily walked toward Iruka and gestured toward Saru, who was attempting to squirm out of her hands to get a look at Iruka while also trying to stick his thumb in his mouth. "Want to hold him? He's wiggly, but he calms down if you promise to feed him."

Iruka held out his arms, and as the child was dropped into his hands he felt the strange sensation that he was holding his grandchild. Until Saru grinned at him, and he was instantly reminded of his partner, his teammate, his friend, and the man who had raped this innocent little girl. Iruka gently petted the toddler's head while Naruto again pulled Saru's thumb out of his mouth. "Do you mind if we get a bloodtest?" Iruka asked her.

"No." Naruto replied. "Do you like him?"

"Yes." Iruka answered, trying desperately to hold onto the squirming child.

"I wuv you!" The toddler exclaimed.

Iruka blinked in surprise.

"He says that to everyone." Naruto assured Iruka. "And everything. It's the first sentence he learned."


	2. Chapter 2

**Diclaimer: Do not own Naruto, the fishcakes commonly used on ramen or the manga. If I owned Naruto, either ramen would be slightly less salty or the show/manga would stink.**

**Thanks for the attention! If you like, keep reading, if you don't, go away! To all those who sent nice reviews, you are awesome!**

**So, Sasuke might seem a little OC, but I don't actually think he was that bad in the beginning of the manga, likely he was on his way to recovery from trauma but the curse seal and the arrival of his brother threw that out of wack, plus, he has a little crush, so like, whatever. And I'm not Sakura-bashing or anything, but frankly she was awful in the beginning of the manga. I hated her until Shippuden came around.**

**Not sure there is anything else to say, so, sianara.**

**

* * *

**

The bloodtest simply confirmed it. The newly dubbed three year old Saru Uzumaki, was the son of Naruto and the traitor known as Mizuki.

* * *

"Hey! What are you doing here, Pudgy-chan?!" Sakura called out.

Naruto had quietly entered the room, looking slightly exhausted and still wearing her baggy orange jumpsuit, the only difference being the headband on her forehead. "I passed." She answered simply. Without a thought, she sat down in her seat. The problem with her seat was that they were in alphabetical order, meaning she was sitting down right next to Sasuke Uchiha. The fangirls of whom didn't seem to care about seating arrangements.

Ino growled at her and stood right in front of her seat. "How the hell did you pass, Bimbo?"

"Ino-pig. Hello." Naruto greeted.

"Get out of that seat! I want to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" Ino growled. "And I'm sure Sasuke-kun doesn't want to sit next to a fatty like you!"

"Ninety-seven." Naruto mumbled. _I only weigh ninety-seven pounds. Jiji says I'm underweight._

"What was that, Fatso-chan?" Ino glared.

Ino was beautiful. Naruto knew that. She had long, silky, blonde hair, a figure she dared to show, even if it wasn't as curvaceous or large in some places as Naruto's, she knew how to sway her hips, and she understood everything about boys. If she wanted, and she had done this before, she could make any boy in the class fall in love with her. Any boy, that is, except Sasuke, who, coincidentally, was the only one she actually wanted.

Why, then, hadn't Mizuki chosen _her_? If he really just wanted a toy to practice with until he was married, why didn't he choose the prettiest?

Instead he chose Naruto, who wasn't pretty. She had wild blonde hair that was only tame after long hours of brushing or if she showed it into ponytails or a braid, and she was too nervous to cut it, so in a braid it reached to her waist. Any stray strands stood straight up, giving her a ragged appearance. She had three scars marring both cheeks, a lightly tanned complexion which she was told looked like burnt toast, blue eyes too large of her face, and despite her advanced development, she was far too nervous to show it, and she hid her form behind her baggy orange jumpsuit.

Truthfully, however, Ino picked on Naruto simply because she was encouraged to by her parents, and because she thought Naruto was extremely pretty, even when Naruto was fat. But her actions had engraved a self-loathing into the young girl, and the only moments Naruto ever thought of herself as beautiful were when she saw parts of herself in Saru, or when Saru exclaimed to her that she was the prettiest, most wonderful mother in the whole world, which was his typical compliment after she let him eat some 'adult' food instead of his normal mash.

"I didn't say anything, Ino-pig." Naruto growled even as she attempted to sink into her chair.

"How'd _you_ pass?" Kiba asked, genuinely curious but the question came out as an insult.

"I'm just amazing, that's how." She replied flippantly.

Ino bristled; aggravated that Naruto was once again the center of attention instead of herself. "Excuse me, _Pudgy-chan_," several people snickered as Ino said this, "but that seat belongs to the future Lady Uchiha, and I doubt a fatso like you will ever achieve _that_."

"Okay, fine! Whatever." Naruto rolled her eyes, sitting up from her seat. She moved to take a seat by the window, and as she did so she paused by Sasuke's desk. "What's so special about _you_?" She wondered, staring at him.

The class's attention had diverted from Naruto, so the question went uncontested from the Uchiha's fangirls, who were currently screeching and fighting over the desk next to Sasuke.

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat as he connected eyes with those stormy blue eyes, but he ignored the feeling, replying with a simple, "Hn," and turning away.

Naruto leaned over the desk, to get a better look at Sasuke's face and Sasuke reluctantly turned his face back, also staring at her. Without realizing it, the two leaned forward slightly, setting themselves up for an embarrassing encounter.

Sasuke found his mind wandering as he studied her, and he allowed himself to indulge in a momentary inquiry. _She… she's sort of pretty. I mean, she used to be fat, and everyone calls her Pudgy-chan, but it seems like she got her weight under control. Her eyes are definitely the most beautiful… I don't have time for that! Stupid! I have to train… where do those scars come from? They give her a sort of… exotic… look to her. And her hair, even done in that long braid, it's definitely wild, like a… a… lioness. Like a lioness. And she doesn't have that squeaky voice like all the other girls do. In fact, her voice is a lot deeper, although feminine. Sultry and appeali… nonsense! This is some idiot from class! Will she just move away already?! Does she even understand the term 'personal space'?! _

Naruto also scruitinized him, thinking, _Sasuke… he looks kind of feminine, like some girl. But his eyes… But he's always moody and dark! And he doesn't care about anything! His hair definitely is cool, and it suits him even if it looks like duck-butt hair bed head. He's handsome… I guess… and he's muscular, like Mizuki… _Naruto's eyes grew wide and she pulled back quickly, only to find herself being bumped hard in the back and flying forward.

A hush came over the room as the two ninja stood, frozen in liplock.

Naruto hastened to get off the desk, and she stared at him, falling on the floor, fighting the urge to scream either a string of insults or a wordless roar of terror.

Sasuke stared at her, and fought the urge to pull her toward him and kiss her again or to pound her into the floor.

"Naruto! You stupid little freak! You stole Sasuke's first kiss!" Sakura screamed.

* * *

"… And Team Seven will consist of Sasuke Uchiha…"

Sasuke mentally crossed his fingers, unwilling to humiliate himself by actually doing the action but nervous enough to want to. _Not a fangirl, not a fangirl, not a fangirl…_

"Sakura Haruno…"

_What the hell?! A FANGIRL!_

"Yes! Yes! Take that Ino-pig! Haha! Sasuke will be mine!"

"No! Iruka-sensei! How could you?!"

Iruka sighed. "And finally Naruto Uzumaki."

Sasuke blinked in surprise as he fought the urge to smile as he heard Naruto's name called. Eventually, he calmed himself down with a sobering thought; _an obsessed, pink-haired fangirl and a girl who actually makes the 'blonde' jokes seem not dumb enough will do nothing but distract you and hinder you in your quest for vengeance._

Iruka gave Naruto an apologetic glance. He hadn't wanted to put Naruto on a team with two of the people he knew she despised, but due to her poor marks he was forced to.

Naruto sighed and dropped her head onto the desk, wondering whether she should simply beat her head against the wall and die, sparing herself the pain of being on a team with the Uchiha-prick and Sakura-drone. Until she realized that Saru would very likely be horrified if his mother didn't come to pick him up after his first day of daycare.

She smiled tentatively. Daycare. The use of which was sparing her the headache of coming home to a frightened baby that was crying its eyes out from the terror of being alone for hours on end. Now she could bring him to the 24/7 Sunshine Day/Nightcare, which was only a couple blocks from her apartment, anytime she needed to go out. The daycare was specifically set up for single parents that happened to have the harrowing lives of ninja. Albeit, she was the youngest mother there, but most of the nurses looking after the children had been told her story, and she was satisfied with Saru's safety. Yesterday, she and Iruka had gone out to a store, and they had spent considerable amounts of yen, given to her by the Hokage, on toys, clothes, food, and a crib for Saru. Naruto refused, even though the Hokage offered to pay, to move out of her apartment, so instead she had come home from the shopping trip to find a brand new paint job, new kitchen appliances with softened corners, a new carpet, and a renovated bathroom with soft tiles and an actual bathtub that doubled as a shower, instead of simply a shower.

Mizuki's imprisonment had marked the beginning of a new life for her, and she was overjoyed at the difference in Saru's life.

"Hello? Pudgy-chan?" Naruto looked up. Sakura, Sasuke, and herself were the only ones left in the waiting room. She must have dozed off sometime while she was thinking, and now Sakura was shaking her.

"Let go of me, Sakura-drone!" Naruto growled, twisting to break free of Sakura's death grip.

"Well, I was just trying to wake you up, no need to be rude." Sakura snorted.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. _You were the one who instigated a conversation by calling Naruto-chan 'fat'. _He thought.

"What is it?" Naruto growled.

"I was just… you were snoring!" Sakura grumbled. "It was annoying!"

Naruto sunk into her seat while managing to scream back, "I barely slept last night, maybe I was tired! You could have just let me rest 'till our sensei showed up!"

"My ears were killing me! You snore like a hog!"

_She doesn't snore. She was purring, albeit loudly. _Sasuke added in his head.

"At least I don't look like one!" Naruto countered successfully.

"Whore!" Sakura screamed at her.

"Hag!"

"Sumo!"

"Sumo?! You're the one who smells like one!"

"…Will you two just… shut up?" Sasuke interrupted.

"He speaks." Naruto blinked wildly in mock surprise.

"Oh! Do you have a headache, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, skipping over to him and attempting to place her hand on his forehead. Attempting, because Sasuke grabbed her wrist and moved it away from him. "What's wrong, Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"He just asked you to shut up and you're still yelling?" Naruto ventured.

"Quiet! What do _you_ know about Sasuke, Pudgy-chan?!" Sakura yelled at her.

Sasuke winced and dropped his head into his hands, silently bemoaning his misfortune at being stuck with his teammates.

"I don't venture to know anything about him, Sakura-drone, and neither do you! And you don't know a thing about me either, so maybe you should stick that attitude back up your ass where it belongs, you pink mongrel!" Naruto countered.

Sakura sat down in the desk next to Sasuke, which Ino had actually one the right to sit in earlier, but she had claimed once Ino's sensei had arrived to take them to kami-knew-where. "Well, I would _love_ to get to know you, Sasuke." Sakura batted her eyes at Sasuke once he lifted his head, and she stuck out her legs gently from the desk so that they brushed against Sasuke's.

Sasuke violently stuck his legs back under his seat.

"Well, I would _love _to get to know you, Sasuke-kun! And let me prove it to you by acting like a total slut and trying to steal both of our virginities while dreaming about you every night under my hand-made Sasuke collage!" Naruto mimicked in an overly squeaky voice.

Sasuke glared at them both. Sakura for acting like a slut and Naruto for continuously making him come close to actually laughing.

"Oh, maybe I should disfigure your face… oh, wait, someone already did!" Sakura yelled, blushing profusely as she did so.

Naruto reacted differently from what Sakura expected. She seemed taken aback, then she quietly reached up with one hand to touch her cheek. The moment her hand made contact with one of her whiskers she violently turned her head around toward the window and pulled her knees up to her chin, refusing to acknowledge Sakura's comment beyond that.

Feeling slightly guilty, but managing to brush it off, Sakura spent the next ten minutes trying to catch Sasuke's eye, as Sasuke pretended to look off into nowhere, when he was actually studying the pattern of Naruto's braid, while Naruto looked at a very familiar swing outside, trying not to think of the night the only person she'd ever trusted revealed to her that she had a monster inside of her and then tried to kill her.

Observing all of this, a slightly pissed off Jounin stood in the center of the room, wondering which one of the students would finally notice he was there. Of course, he wasn't in a rush, so he simply leaned against the teacher's desk and pulled out his orange book.

A perverted giggle not three minutes later revealed his presence to the three of them, and the dysfunctional Team Seven stared at each other for a moment.

"Is that porn?" Naruto had to ask, recognizing the volume from the bookshelf of the man who had fathered her child.

"Possibly." Kakashi answered, putting the book away with a sigh. "But I'm not giving it to you."

"I don't want your freakin' porn!" Naruto exclaimed, agitated. Her eyes were red, Kakashi noticed, and not with some demonic chakra, but it seemed as if she'd been crying. He decided not to point that out, of all of his students, Naruto was the only one who had the right to be crying at the moment. He suppressed a wave of nostalgia as he glanced at her face, and then he suppressed another emotional wave, this one of guilt, as he remembered what he'd seem in her apartment and read in her file.

_Name: Naruto Uzumaki (aged thirteen) . Family: Mother, K---- Uzumaki (deceased) . Father, Unknown. Siblings, None. Offspring, Saru Uzumaki (three years old) ._

"My first impression of you, I hate you. And you need to work on your observational skills." Kakashi said to the three of them, noting Naruto's scornful sniff, Sakura's heavy blush, and Sasuke's glares. "Meet me on the roof." He told them, disappearing.

* * *

"So, why don't we introduce each other? Say our likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams…" Kakashi asked.

"Why don't you go first, sensei? To show us how it's done?" Naruto offered.

Kakashi shrugged. "Very well, my name is Kakashi Hatake… My likes… I dislike many things… I have many hobbies… My dreams, never really thought about it… All right, you're turn. Starting with the pink one."

Sasuke snorted, a vein in Sakura's forehead twitched, and Naruto glared at him.

Sakura stood up, facing the others like she was giving a presentation. "My name is Sakura Haruno. I like…" She glanced over to Sasuke and blushed. "My dislikes, are rainy days, Ino-pig, and _Pudgy-chan_." Naruto growled at her when she said that. "My hobbies are…" She glances at Sasuke and blushed. "And my dream is to…" She squealed slightly, and looked at Sasuke with such adoration that it was painfully obvious that she was imagining her wedding day. She sat down, trying to sit so that she was touching Sasuke, but Sasuke scooted away from her, actually managing to sit so close to Naruto that they were nearly touching, and he didn't seem to mind that contact.

"Interesting." Kakashi nodded. "Your turn next, Blondie."

Naruto glared at her sensei, and she didn't bother standing up for her presentation. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, sunflowers and dandelions, Saru-ouji, Iruka-sensei, and Old Man Hokage, but not in that order. My dislikes are pink haired _hags_," She glared at Sakura who stuck out her tongue in return, "bastards who think they're better than everyone else, and Ino-pig. My hobbies are…" _Training and taking care of Saru…_ "None of your business and my dreams are to someday become Hokage and someday have a husband." _Who won't mind my ugliness or Saru. _"But… that's not likely to happen." She mumbled the last part.

"Hm." Kakashi wondered, he turned to Sasuke. "You're turn emo boy."

Sasuke bristled at the nickname. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like many things, but I hate a lot of things. My hobby is training and my dream is to kill a certain man." He replied monotonously while thinking, _Saru-ouji? Monkey prince? Who the hell is that?_

"Tomorrow meet at Training Ground Seven at eight in the morning. Don't bother eating breakfast. We're going to have… survival training." Kakashi informed them.

"Survival training? We did that at the Academy." Naruto blurted out.

"Not this kind of training." Kakashi winked at them. "Because if you fail this test, I'm sending you back to the Academy. I don't care who you are or what scores you got, you fail this and you're done. And you should know that this test only has a 66% pass record, and I've never passed a student before."

"Nani?!"

"Nani?!"

"Hn…?"

"Remember, don't eat breakfast!" Kakashi waved to them cheerily and he disappeared.

Sakura stood up quietly, looking slightly dazed, and she smiled brightly at Sasuke and attempted to smile at Naruto. "So, how about we get something to eat?"

"By 'we', of course, you mean you and Sasuke while Naruto sticks her head in a tree or something." Naruto stated, crossing her arms.

"This from the girl who likes _ramen _and _dandelions_. For your information, Pudgy-chan, ramen is filled with fat and calories and is extremely unhealthy for you, and dandelions are a weed, not a flower, which you would know if you had been given just a few more IQ points so you could have at least made double digits." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Ramen is delicious and dandelions may be a weed, but they are unstoppable, beautiful, and untamable! I _love_ watching the bees make hides out of their pollen or blowing away the seeds from them, so excuse me if I categorize dandelions with my flowers!" Naruto growled.

"Why don't you both shut up and go home already? You should probably prepare for the test, instead of try to kill each other verbally." Sasuke informed them, walking off silently with his hands in his pockets.

Watching him leave, Naruto was struck by an unexplainable sense of longing. She immediately dismissed it as part of her desire for a husband, and shook it out of her head.

It must have shown on her face, because Sakura smirked at her and whispered, "It's not like you could ever get him anyway_, Pudgy_-chan, so don't even think about it. You'll be hard pressed finding a man who can tolerate you enough to be your husband."

A flash of hurt crossed Naruto's face and she stormed off.

* * *

"I deserve to have a husband." Naruto growled as she mashed up some food for Saru, who was playing with a new toy horse he'd gotten and was making 'vroom vroom' sounds for some strange reason. "I've had to go through enough… whatever." She slammed a pot down on the stove, making a crashing noise. Saru didn't even blink, knowing when his mother was upset that she would take it out on kitchen appliances and walls.

"So what if I just _glanced_ at Sasuke! I hate the basta…" Halfway through the word bastard she remembered there was an impressionable child in the same room. "I mean… I hate him." That was better, since Saru didn't hate anything, he likely wouldn't understand. "Stupid Uchiha. Cool and aloof, making Ino-pig and Sakura-drone obsess over him. Life would be so much easier if they weren't so crazy about _Uchiha's_ skills and _Uchiha's _grades and _Uchiha's _hair and _Uchiha's _lips…"

Naruto paused, bringing a hand up to her mouth and blushing.

"Mommy…" Saru asked. "I want big food." He begged.

Naruto glanced over and connected with his big, baby blue eyes and she nearly melted. "No, Saru. You have to eat mash. You can't eat big food unless you're good, and biting other children is not good."

Saru pouted, but he relented when Naruto handed him a sippy cup with pictures of ducks on it. "Love ducks!" Saru exclaimed. "Love cup!"

"_Drink_ cup, Saru-ouji." Naruto ordered.

"Love drink!" Saru replied happily, trying to get his new toy horse to drink from the sippy cup.

"Well, he's certainly a bundle of joy, isn't he?"

"Love you!" Saru smiled at a figure in the window.

Naruto turned around with wide eyes, leaving the pot and bowl at the counter and rushing to take off her plain white apron. "Sensei!" She greeted awkwardly.

"Don't bother." Kakashi held up a hand to stop her. "I was just stopping by to check up on you, and I was curious to meet the famous _Saru_ Uzumaki." He eye-smiled to the three-year old who grinned widely back.

"Don't tell him that or he'll get an ego to match Sasuke-tem… I mean, Sasuke-san's." Naruto caught herself before she insulted the Uchiha.

"Love ego!" Saru exclaimed, sticking his thumb back in his mouth.

Kakashi observed Saru with curiosity, eventually coming to the conclusion that the three-year old must say that he loved everything, which was later confirmed when Saru said, "Love horse-chan! Love window man! Love table! Love thumb! Love Ma! Love cup!" In rapid sucession.

"He's super hyper." Naruto apologized, offering Kakashi a seat on her new, oval table.

Kakashi shook his head, and instead offered Naruto a basket.

Her eyes wide, Naruto took it. "What's this?" She asked, awed slightly.

"Just some things a young kunoichi needs, I noticed your weapons weren't sharp, you didn't have steel pins for that hair, and your clothes were a big baggy. I guessed that with all the fuss Saru has been making, most people have forgotten the standard package a kunoichi gets when she graduates, and I figured I might as well." Kakashi smiled.

Naruto set the basket down on the table and stared into it, transfixed, finally she looked up at her sensei, and she awkwardly walked up to him and gave him a hug. Quickly, she let go, and she flushed.

Kakashi just continued to smile at her, assuring her wordlessly that she did nothing wrong. "Just remember to be ready for the test. You should probably read up on the basic skills each ninja needs, stuff like teamwork, perseverance, and duty to the village, just freshen up your mind a bit."

Naruto smirked. "Kakashi-sensei, you're not playing favorites, right?"

The copy-nin chuckled. "No, I'm actually just hoping this team will pass. You're an interesting bunch." He said while mentally adding, _and I don't want to fail my sensei's daughter. _"But that doesn't mean that I'm going to give you any slack, if you still don't pass I _will_ send you back to the Academy."

"Well, thank you Kakashi-sensei. Would you like anything? I have tea, and a teapot, it only takes a few minutes." Naruto offered.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, I just stopped by to deliver that. If you don't mind, I've come to a rather interesting point in my book that…"

Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "That P. O. R. N. book?" She asked, spelling out the letters of the offensive word.

The copy-nin shrugged.

"Don't let the window hit you on the way out!" Naruto said cheerfully, while her eyes were that of a lioness about to pounce on its prey.

Kakashi, knowing how wrathful women could become, jumped out of the window as fast as he could.

"Love Kaka!" Saru exclaimed.

"Just don't let him read you a nighttime story." Naruto mumbled grimly, pulling the head of the horse out of Saru's mouth and forcing the sippy cup in.

* * *

_Night nurses are scary at seven-thirty in the morning._ Naruto concluded as she sat down in Training Ground Seven while she waited for the rest of her team. She hoped the younger, more chipper day care workers would take their shifts soon, because the lady working the Toddler's Room had been… weird. She had purple hair that stuck out everywhere and had crackers in it, rings two inches long around her eyes, and the worn down look of someone who needed to go home and sleep for six years.

She had handed Saru over to her with the warning to watch what Saru put in his mouth, be it toys, clothing, or other children, and the woman didn't even flinch or wonder at the sight of the small kunoichi handing over a three-year old named 'Monkey'. Of course, the other nurse had the audacity to wonder aloud to Naruto why Naruto's _mother_ named Naruto's _little brother_ Saru, which meant monkey. Naruto had replied, in a sickly sweet tone, that her mother was six feet under, Saru was her son, and she had named him after the Third Hokage, who's name was _Saru_tobi. Still, the nurse was a weirdo… did the toddler's dye her hair purple? They were definitely responsible for the worn down look and the crackers in her hair…

"Hello, Naruto-chan." A monotonous voice greeted as a figure sat down on the ground a few feet away from here. Somehow, Sasuke had arrived exactly on time, with his hair impeccably perfect and absolutely no hint of exhaustion.

"Chan?" Naruto asked, confused with the honorific.

Sasuke looked away from her. "If you want I can call you Naruto-san." He offered.

"Chan is fine." Naruto said quietly. "May I call you Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't care." He replied, although he actually did.

Naruto smiled brightly at him. "Well, I suppose it's better than 'bastard'."

"Dobe." Sasuke growled.

Naruto stared down at her feet, trying to ignore her aching stomach and the worry pounding at her chest.

"Why do they call you 'Pudgy-chan'?" Sasuke asked.

Slightly taken aback, Naruto stared at him for a moment before answering. "Well, I used to be really bloated." She confessed.

"Right." Sasuke remembered. "But you're not anymore."

_Is it that obvious? _Naruto wondered, looking down at herself. The clothes Kakashi-sensei had given her were a few pairs of identical black capris, which fit as if they were tailored to perfection, a black kunai and a black shuriken holder, and a loose brown t-shirt that she had opted not to wear. She wasn't comfortable abandoning her orange jacket yet, so she still wore her baggy black shirt with her orange jacket over it. Her stomach wasn't more visible as usual, but her legs were pretty evident, declaring her small figure. On her feet, she simply wore her sandals. Her feet were rather ugly, she surmised as she looked at them. They were far larger than girls' feet were supposed to be, and they were calloused from the number of times she walked around barefoot. "No." Naruto answered him. "But… I suppose people like Ino…pig don't like to let people forget about there insecurities."

"She's just jealous." Sasuke mumbled quietly.

Naruto snorted. "Jealous? Of me? Why would _anyone _be jealous of me?"

_Because you're most definitely a lot prettier than Ino ever was. _Sasuke thought quietly. He wasn't stupid enough to deny that he'd been having the occasional thought like that about her. Even when he tried his hardest not to think about her, something always drew his thoughts back to her. He definitely thoughtshe was pretty and he liked her voice, although she could be exceedingly boastful and stupid. He liked her though, he refused to believe they were anything more than that… but he liked her.

Ino, however, was nothing more than the most aggravating thing on the planet, and Sakura was Ino's clone. Naruto's nickname for Sakura was fairly accurate. The pink haired girl likely hadn't had an original thought since they started at the Academy.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun! Oh. And 'hi' to you too, Pudgy-chan." Sakura greeted.

_Think of the devil…_ Sasuke thought.

"You're fifteen minutes late, Sakura-drone." Naruto pointed out.

"So?" Sakura scoffed, plopping down next to Sasuke. "Sensei's not here yet, and you guys aren't gunna rat me out."

"Don't tempt me." Naruto mumbled.

Sakura looked at her, and noticed something was different. "Oh! You got a new outfit, even if you did keep that horrendous orange jacket."

The blonde girl drew her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them, staring off into space.

"The capris are a nice touch." Sakura scrutinized, "And I guess you got steels for the braid? You should probably get some makeup. You definitely don't need eye shadow, but you do have to clear up those bags, and you should probably use concealer on your cheeks-"

"I like my scars." Naruto interrupted. "And I don't wear makeup."

Sakura shrugged. "Whatever." She turned to Sasuke. "So? How are you this morning, Sasuke-kun? Feeling better?"

"Hn."

"Is that a 'yes' or a 'no'?"

Naruto smirked. "It's a 'get out of my face you annoying pink freak'."

"No one asked you!" Sakura growled.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. _Well, Naruto's interpretation was the closest to the truth. _He thought.

"I _am _a part of this team too, Haruno! And I don't appreciate being called _Pudgy-chan_ so back off with the insults or…"

"Or what?" Sakura snorted.

"Or I'll make thirty clones and pound you into the ground." Naruto growled. _Then I'll set the Nine-Tailed Fox after you and laugh as your body is enveloped in flames, then I'll henge into Sasuke and make him tell you he doesn't and never will love you! … Okay, so that's abusing my powers as a jinchuuriki, but it's still a nice thought…_

"Well, I suppose you're ready?" Kakashi suddenly appeared in front of the three silent genin.

"Sensei! You're late!" Naruto jumped to her feet, pointing an accusing finger at the copy-nin.

"I woke up an hour early, but walking along the path here I saw an old lady who needed help crossing the street, so I helped her but she turned out to be an enemy ninja who used a transportation jutsu to send me to a dimension where everything is on fire, so I was forced to teach myself to reverse the jut…"

"That's the weirdest excuse I've ever heard." Sakura sighed.

"Is this going to be a frequent occurrence?" Sasuke ventured to ask.

Kakashi shrugged. "Ah, the Ice Prince speaks. Now, who's ready for some survival training?"

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

"So, we have to get those bells? That's it?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi 'eye-smiled' at the three of them. "Hai." He nodded, taking out his orange book.

For a moment, none of them reacted. Until Sasuke said, "Wait, are you going to read porn while you fight us?" Sasuke lifted an eyebrow.

Kakashi nodded, turning a page. "So, the timer starts now. You can begin whenever."

Sasuke and Sakura immediately fled, going into the woods and staying clear of the clearing. Naruto, however, made a hand sign and created ten clones, each cracking their knuckles. "Hey, sensei, maybe you should put that book down and take me seriously?"

"Well, kage bunshin_ is_ nothing to sneeze at." Kakashi admitted, turning another page. "But _you_ however, _are_ something to sneeze at."

The clones jumped to him, and tried to hit him with sloppy taijutsu that Kakashi easily blocked.

"Don't you know what I am?" Naruto smirked.

Kakashi nodded. "Still, that taijutsu is horrendous."

"Horrendous?" Naruto growled, making more clones and again sending them after the teacher, this time joining them herself.

Kakashi easily overpowered the clones, and with a powerful kick, forced Naruto to her knees. "Yes, how you passed with _that_ taijutsu I'll never know." He sighed, pushing Naruto's face into the dirt.

Naruto struggled uselessly, finally giving it up for a lost cause and worked her brain hard to figure out another solution. Stalling, she said, "Isn't it in my file?"

"Your file is nearly twenty pages long, all of useless information, and it doesn't mention the… incident after graduation." He informed her.

"Oh," Naruto replied, distracted as her gaze fell on a good sized rock a few feet away from her. "What are the twenty-pages filled with?"

"Stuff like all your graduation exam results, a psych exam, a physical exam, the basics on your pranking nature, and stuff like that. But any ninja's file is always filled with potentially useless information, to prevent enemy ninja from gaining anything by stealing them." He told her. "This _was_ taught at the Academy."

Naruto blushed slightly, and jolted her body in such a way that it looked like a completely futile attempt at escape, but it put the rock right under her mouth. "Well, I had better things to do at the Academy." She replied. "Like sleeping."

"Huh. Well, sleeping during this test isn't going to do anything, _nor was that horrifically aimed kunai, Sakura_!" Kakashi raised his voice, apparently so Sakura could hear him.

Taking advantage of what seemed to be a momentary distraction, Naruto grabbed the rock and twisted her head to the side, flinging it at the Jounin and praying it made contact. The rock, however, was grabbed in midair, and Kakashi sighed. "That was never going to work." He informed her, but he let her go anyways, taking a couple steps away from her. "I guess your teammates weren't about to rescue you, were they?" The copy-nin normally would have sent her off with the Thousand Years of Pain technique after he'd realized the other two were content to leave Naruto to her fate, but he decided that the move was a little too inappropriate to use on a girl with a three-year old son.

Naruto shakily got up, grabbing a kunai and lunging pitifully at her sensei. "Your fault! Saru kept me up all night asking me about 'Kaka'!" She growled furiously, as Kakashi simply backed away from the attack.

"Sorry," Kakashi smiled apologetically. "But do the clothes fit?"

Naruto stopped attacking, although she didn't break out of her fighting stance. "Wonderfully, thank you. I'm sorry, but… I'm not really comfortable with the shirt…"

Kakashi waved that off. "Don't worry about that, it's yours to do with as you like. Now, you seem to be dizzy, maybe you should go check up on your teammates."

Naruto, mumbling slightly, complied and melted into the trees as best as a girl with bright blonde hair and an orange jacket could blend in trees, meaning she was painfully obvious, but Kakashi just decided to ignore that.

* * *

"Sasuke! I'm here to help you!" Sakura exclaimed, interrupting the raven who was trying to set up trip wire.

Sasuke glared at her. "I don't need your help. Go help Naruto, or something."

"But… but I have lots of experience with traps! I can help!" She offered.

_Help. Riiiiight. _"I honestly doubt you have any skills that can be of use to me." He growled. "Please leave me alone." He begged.

Sakura pretended she didn't hear that, instead pulling out her own length of trip wire. "See? I can set another trap!"

"You didn't paint your trip wire? Sakura, that's bright silver, it wouldn't fool a bat." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Go set up your own traps and keep them far away from mine. I don't want or need your help."

Sakura glared angrily at him, and then looked away and sniffed pitifully. "Fine. If _that's_ how you feel."

_It is exactly how I feel, you idiot! _"Hn."

After nearly an entire minute's worth of a hesitation, Sakura left, leaving behind a relieved Sasuke.

* * *

Trudging along the pathway, Sakura tried as hard as she could to quell the ever increasing feeling of angst. It wasn't enough that she was about to fail the test, but Sasuke just _had_ to blatantly ignore her and then reject her. Sure, all of the other girls in his fanclub had noticed those occasional glances Sasuke gave the blonde, whiskered girl, but they'd always dismissed it as part of Naruto's crazy antics. Unfortunately, Naruto had _kissed_ Sasuke the other day and Sakura was up half the night moaning and bewailing her misfortune and anger at the horrific incident to fifty-four of her closest friends. What would it take for Sasuke to realize that they were perfect for each other? She was definitely prettier than the fashionably defective Naruto Uzumaki, and she was a great deal skinnier, even if the loser had decided to go on a diet. Was it her awful forehead…

"Hey! Psst! Sakura-drone!" Naruto whispered, trying to catch the attention of the girl who was blatantly ignoring her. Naruto noticed, and glared angrily at the back of her pink head. "Sakura, I know how to beat the test!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and pulled out a kunai, picking at her nails. "_Sasuke_ already figured it out." She informed her.

Naruto blinked in surprise, and she seemed slightly put down, but she bounced back quickly, asking, "Oh. Then… what's the plan?"

"What plan?" Sakura lifted an eyebrow.

"The plan to beat the test? Shouldn't I be in it too? What are you and Sasuke doing?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Nothing! Sasuke doesn't want help!" The pink-haired kunoichi sniffed angrily.

Naruto looked confused, a frequent expression on her face. "But I thought you said he figured out the test?"

"He did! He's off making traps or something by himself!"

"But that has nothing to do with teamwork!"

"What are you talking about?! It can't be teamwork if there are only two bells for the three of us! It's called math, Naruto!" Sakura said, glaring at her.

"Well… I don't know what the point of the bells is, but I do know that teamwork is the answer somehow." Naruto confessed. "And we need to find Sasuke and get a plan."

"Sasuke doesn't want our help; he kicked me out when I tried to help him."

"Wow, thanks for inviting me." Naruto said sarcastically.

"You were being killed by the sensei!"

"Thanks for saving me."

"I did throw a kunai."

Naruto just stared at her for a moment, counting quietly to ten before she exploded. "Listen, we need to find Sasuke and get him to join us so we can win this exercise."

"He's not going to listen."

"Pessimism will not help us win this."

"Neither will you.

"Your faith in me is reassuring."

"Whatever."

Aggravated, the hairs on the back of her neck were bristling in agitation, Naruto glared at Sakura. "You're just like Saru-ouji when he gets a cold or I take away his sock!" She exclaimed.

Sakura lifted an eyebrow. "And that is supposed to mean…"

"You're acting like a tantrum throwing three-year old, Haruno!" Naruto explained vehemently. "We need to win this exercise to become ninja, and frankly I need that job a hundred times more than you, with your parents and big house, do! So stop acting like a prick and start acting like a kunoichi!"

To her credit, Sakura blushed terribly. "Fine, but I'm not the one who'll try to convince Sasuke, that's your job, Miss-I-Know-Everything."

Naruto shrugged. "Fine." She agreed.

Sakura nodded, satisfied. "I just left him." She told Naruto, "He was setting up traps in a clearing right by here."

"To the right? Where there was just that giant explosion?" Naruto asked.

The pink-haired girl gasped. "Do you think Sasuke's hurt?!" She exclaimed, bursting into a run.

Following her, somewhat surprised at Sakura's speed, Naruto breathed out a quick, reassuring, "I'm sure Sasuke's fine," before concentrating more on dodging through tree branches. She had never been the most graceful person in the world, but she wondered why it was that this was second nature to everyone else. All the other students jumped through tree branches like they were floating, a path just opened up for them, and they glided from branch to branch like it was the simplest thing in the world, while Naruto always seemed to miss or overshoot and either slam into the trunk and fall to the ground, breaking hundreds of tiny braches that hurt like knives before she crashed ungracefully into the dirt, or have her gut slam into the branch she was aiming for and fall to the ground, breaking hundreds of tiny branches that hurt like knives before she crashed ungracefully into the dirt.

"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed, breaking Naruto out of her reverie.

"Where?" Naruto asked, glancing around the empty clearing that only seemed to contain some scattered kunai and ashes.

Sakura screamed again, this time a wordless roar, and she collapsed to the ground in a dead faint.

Looking at the ground to see if Sakura was alright, Naruto finally noticed a disembodied head sticking straight up out of the earth.

Sasuke scowled.

Biting her lip to keep from laughing, Naruto asked calmly, "Loose your head, Sasuke-kun?"

The head glared at her, and Naruto couldn't resist. Collapsing into giggles, Naruto joined the rest of her teammates on the floor as she doubled over in mirth.

"I can get myself out of this!" Sasuke growled.

Naruto shook her head, bringing her hands together in an unfamiliar seal, and suddenly three more Naruto's appeared beside her.

"Bunshin aren't going to help, Naruto-dobe." Sasuke reminded her.

"You kidding? I can't do Bunshin for my life! These are Kage Bunshin, they're solid." Naruto informed him. She proved this fact when her clones began to dig Sasuke out of his predicament, literally. The real Naruto, however, spent her time laughing at his expression. "How did you plan to get yourself out of this without our help, Sasuke-teme?"

"I…" Sasuke thought for a moment, before closing his mouth and glaring at Naruto and the clones that had yet to even dig out his shoulders.

"I know, I know, speechless in my presence, it's alright, you can admit it." Naruto joked, grinning widely.

"I am not speechless in your presence!" He growled.

"Are you, Sasuke? Are you, really?" Naruto asked, a fake-serious look crossing her face.

Sasuke's face seemed to flush for a moment, but it was gone in an instant. "Just dig me out of here, dobe!" He mumbled.

Naruto crossed her arms and resisted the urge to kick Sasuke in the head. "What happened to 'Naruto-chan'?" She asked.

Some sort of emotion flashed across Sasuke's face, but it was gone in an instant. "Hn." He replied.

"Hn." Naruto repeated.

When she did it, it sounded like grunting, and Sasuke decided not to repeat his characteristic monosyllabic phrase, not wanting their exchange to turn into a Neolithic conversation.

_Yep. That always works with Saru too. _Naruto grinned. She surveyed the progress her kage bunshin were making, satisfied. "Just a little bit bastard, then we need to think up a plan for the three of us to take down Kakashi-sensei." She informed him.

_The three of us? Together? That completely ruins everyth… wait, I'm not trying to impress her… am I? No! … Definitely not… I can't team up with these weaklings! They'll screw it up! _"I am perfectly capable getting those bells on my own." Sasuke glared.

"That's why I'm digging you out of a hole, is that is?"

"Shut up, dobe."

"Stop calling me that!"

"…dobe."

"Gragh! Teme!"

"Hn."

"Hn."

"Hn!"

"HN!

"I will not be repeating that any longer."

"Hn."

"Naruto, stop it and tell your clones to finish digging me out."

"Hn."

"…This is not humorous."

"Hn."

Sasuke glared at the four Naruto's. "Fine." He stated simply, straightening up his form slightly because only the top of his chest was as of yet out of the dirt. _I can play this immature game just as long as she can._

"Hn."

_I have resolve. I can be calm. My leg is itching like crazy… And now my nose… but I will not bother… An Uchiha should be able to beat some blonde kunoichi at any game. _Sasuke took a deep breath, calming himself down so he could place himself in a state of half-meditation. "The timer will ring out any minute now." He warned her.

"Hn." Naruto replied.

"You need me to get the bells." He offered.

"Apologize." Naruto demanded.

Sasuke stared at her, incredulous. "Apologize for what?!"

"Calling me dobe!" Naruto clarified angrily.

"Stop acting like a tantrum throwing child and dig me out of here so we can beat Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke protested. He meant for the sentence to come out as a demand, but since he wasn't really in a position for making demands, it was more like a suggestion.

"I am not a tantrum throwing child! _ You're_ the tantrum throwing child! Saru apologizes for everything without a fuss!" Naruto explained.

"Who the hell is this monkey-person?!" Sasuke growled.

"He is not a monkey! Saru is a name! He was named after the Third Hokage! _Saru_tobi! What is wrong with people?!"

"I just asked a question!"

Naruto smiled. "Fine, Mr.-Refuses-To-Pull-That-Stick-Out-of-His-Ass, I'll dig you out." She said calmly, skillfully refusing to answer the question.

"I don't want to dig him out!" One of the clones protested, "I'm tired!"

The clone that bothered to complain was promptly dispelled and replaced with a new one.

When his arms were finally free, Sasuke angrily shooed Naruto away, and pulled himself up by his arm strength only. He flailed about slightly in the beginning, but soon he was free, and rubbing his legs gently to relieve the ache being buried alive caused, while he turned his face slightly away, and scratched his nose.

With a few puffs of smoke, Naruto became the only orange-clad genin in the clearing once more. Pointedly looking away from Sasuke, she flipped her braid over her shoulder and walked over to Sakura, tapping her in the side with her foot.

Sakura rolled over, moaning something that sounded a lot like, 'Sasuke… I love you…', before she fell back into unconsciousness. Naruto looked back at Sasuke, opening her mouth to ask him if he had a bucket of worms, or water if worms weren't available, so they could wake up Sakura, when she saw a slight flush on his face, and naturally had to make the most of it. "Sasuke! You're blushing! I didn't know vampires could blush!" She exclaimed, grinning at him.

"I'm not…" _I'm not blushing, except I am… but…_ "I'm not a vampire." He countered lamely, trying to control the slight flush he had on his face.

Sensing awkwardness, and since the childish tendencies toward pranking had not dimmed in her the slightest, Naruto leaned her head on Sasuke's shoulder and asked, "Do you _wuv_ Sakura, Sasuke?"

"No!" Sasuke yelled, halfheartedly trying to break away from Naruto, knowing that he might blush more and that was completely against him image as an avenger. Not that he cared about his image… but he… _Damn it's hard to think when she's here! Why, out of all the guys, was I assigned to the team with two kunoichi! And why was the team with two kunoichi assigned to a perverted teacher anyways?!_

_So…_ Naruto thought mischievously, _he blushed when Sakura said she loved him… albeit a tiny blush that's already disappeared… Let's see… _"I _wuuv_ you, Sasuke." She fake-confessed.

It was a success, and Sasuke's blush returned fiercely, nearly turning his entire face bright red. He hesitated for a moment, and then snapped his arm away from her, choosing instead to lean down next to Sakura and shake her to wake her up.

"Don't do that!" Naruto protested, pulling Sasuke's hands off Sakura, and seeing with satisfaction that Sasuke's blush had not yet dissipated.

* * *

Finally, using Naruto's clones to carry water, the two genin were able to wake up their teammate.

Sputtering and screeching, Sakura jumped into consciousness, glaring at Naruto until she saw Sasuke, alive and well apparently, and she latched onto him, hugging him and screaming some nonsense about how she was sure he hadn't been impaled or decapitated.

The blush gone by that point, Sasuke peeled the fangirl off of him, glaring at her and pulling out a kunai for defense.

Sensing awkwardness, Naruto said rather loudly, "So who has a plan?!"

"The plan is I fight the sensei and get a bell while you two stay out of my way, and then the two of you can fight over his unconscious body for the last bell, and the winner gets on my team." Sasuke informed them. _And I hope for my sanity that the winner is Naruto. _

"Sasuke-kun," Naruto growled, "That's a terrible plan."

"Hn."

_Are we going to start that again?_ Naruto wondered, grunting out, "Hn," in response.

"Naruto! Stop bothering Sasuke!"

"Sakura! Stop bothering _me_!"

_Shut up you stupid…_

"Naruto! Stop copying me!"

"Sakura! Stop acting like a child!"

_What is wrong with females…?_

"Naruto! You're such a loser!"

"Sakura! That was a terrible insult!"

_Will this happen frequently…?_

"Naruto!"

"Sakura!"

"Girls! Can! We! Just! Finish! This! Exercise! And concentrate! On our! Careers! Not pointless bickering!" Sasuke yelled at them.

"Of course, Sasuke-kun." Sakura instantly mellowed, changing into her 'flirtacious mode'.

"_IF_ you'll agree to work together with us." Naruto bargained.

"Fine!" Sasuke agreed, "You can use your clones to fight Kakashi-sensei for a while, and Sakura-san will henge into you, and I'll concentrate on using fire-jutsu to keep Kakashi-sensei distracted, how does that sound?!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"I think that was the most brilliant plan, Sasuke-kun, and thought up is such a short time… you really are wonderful…" Sakura swooned, hearts twinkling in her eyes, "Oh, Sasuke-kun…"

_Crazy… I have been insulting her this entire time and she still… crazy. Why am I surrounded by crazy people? _Sasuke thought, exasperated.

"Well, it's time to go-"

There was suddenly a loud noise that rang through the clearing with a dull 'briiing'. Unclear whether this was some kind of jutsu, the three genin immediately adopted a defensive stance. Kakashi sighed, appearing before them in a cloud of leaves and wind. "Congratulations." He glared at them. "The timer has run out and you have successfully failed the exercise."

Shocked, Sakura and Sasuke couldn't manage to say anything. Naruto, however, could not resist a small quip, "Well, that was anti-climatic."

Secretly, Kakashi agreed, except for Naruto's clones, Sasuke's fire jutsu, and Sakura's complete lack of anything, the entire session had been completely pointless.

"So, do we get to eat now?" Naruto had to ask.

"Shut up, Pudgy-chan!" Sakura growled, turning her head away from her teammates so they wouldn't see the tears welling up in her eyes.

Naruto, who was quite used to failing, completely brushed off the loss.

"Is there…" Sasuke asked through clenched teeth, infuriated at his teammates and himself for wasting so much time, "Is there some… way that we… can have… another chance?"

Kakashi gestured for the three genin to follow him, and they did.

* * *

Sakura was in tears, Sasuke was furious, and Naruto was not paying attention at all, far to occupied with trying to figure out what time it was and so learn how long she had been away from Saru.

Kakashi glared at them all, while secretly he was fighting back giggles. The pink haired girl was so obsessed with Sasuke, that even in her pain at the end of her dreams she was still doing everything to make him comfortable, Sasuke was tied to a log, something which would cause Kakashi to laugh at any given point of the day, and he was infuriated, embarrassed, and desperate for Sakura to stop paying attention to him and for Naruto to start, and Naruto looked like her head was in the clouds, and she was undoubtedly thinking of her son. In some way, they reminded him of his own team if Obito has been a girl and had a son, and if Rin had a crush on him and Kakashi'd had a crush on Obito. So, very distantly did they remind him of his own team, but the thought was there nonetheless, something that had never appeared with any of the other teams he'd failed.

But enough talk, it was time for a lecture. "You three are the absolute worst genin I have ever had the misfortune of failing!" He growled, glaring at them all. "Sakura!" The pink haired girl jumped when she heard her name called, "You were too busy thinking about Sasuke that you almost didn't listen to Naruto, and you fell for my simple genjutsu extremely easily." The pink haired girl's head dropped. "Sasuke!" The raven glared, matching Kakashi's own. "You acted alone, forced your teammates away from you, fought a Jounin on your own, and spent so long bickering with Naruto that you ran out of time!" To his credit, Sasuke didn't back down from Kakashi's gaze, and the copy-nin found that slightly creepy. "Naruto!" The blonde suddenly focused, paying rapt attention. "You immediately jumped in to attack without a plan, and you had far too hard of a time trying to convince your teammates to join you, but you were the only one to grasp the concept of this exercise, so that goes to your credit." Naruto nodded, looking away, but Kakashi wasn't finished. "However!" He shouted, causing Naruto to turn back to him. "You need to focus! It doesn't matter if it's a fight or a lecture; you need to concentrate on what _you _are doing!

"All in all, you are one of the worst teams ever to come out of the Academy! You are inconsiderate, rude, and you refuse to listen to each other! Naruto had to spend nearly the entire time fighting for a sliver of respect that had never been given to her, although she deserves it, Sakura was too preoccupied with the workings of her heart, and Sasuke was far to arrogant to listen to his teammates!" Kakashi finished, glaring at them. _Now for the piece de la resistance, _"I am not going to send you back to the Academy, I don't even think you should go there, the three of you should give up on being a ninja!"

"Do you know who I am?! I am the last Uchiha!"

"Do you know _what_ I am?! I am the… the…"

"Do you know how hard I've worked for this?! I was top kunoichi!"

"I don't care who you were before this, when you put on that headband you were no longer yourself, you were a kunoichi or Shinobi of leaf and it was your duty to act as one. All three of you took serious goading to work together and stop arguing, and you should have realized the point of the exercise far sooner, and then, to add to that embarrassment, you spent nearly the entire time arguing with each other. Do you understand?"

The three genin were, finally, speechless, since if what Kakashi said was true, than they had messed up, undoubtedly.

Kakashi glared at them. "I am going to give you another chance, which I have given to some of my other students-to-be before, none of which have passed this second test before, are you willing to take it?"

"We'll do anything to pass, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura answered.

When the others didn't say anything, Kakashi looked curiously at Naruto and Sasuke. "Does Sakura's answer speak for all of you?"

"We're a team, aren't we? What one member says all the member's say, right?" Naruto said, repeating the words she had read out of the scrolls from last night.

"Hn." Sasuke agreed.

_That was… unexpected._ Kakashi thought. _Well then, I guys I have to pass them… although I was kind of hoping they'd fail just to see the looks on their faces… _"Congratulations," Kakashi said, his disappointment clear, "You all pass, meet here at five hundred hours tomorrow, we'll be taking our first missions." He walked off, already planning his next excuse for exactly why he would be four hours late for the meeting at five tomorrow, since this was his way of punishing the team for making the cut.

"What?" Sasuke stared at his retreating form.

Their sensei was soon gone in a torrent of wind and leaves, and the three genin sat down where they were, stunned.

"Did we pass?" Sakura asked.

"He said we did, I think that means we're ninja now." Naruto shrugged.

Sakura began to saw off Sasuke's bindings.

"Sakura!" Naruto protested.

The pink haired girl glared at her blonde teammate. "What?" She asked.

"I thought you have a crush on Sasuke…?" Naruto asked, confused.

"What about it?" Sakura asked, blushing slightly, but her crush was public knowledge so it didn't bother her much.

Naruto smiled mischievously, "Well, why let him go? We can paint on his face, take pictures of it, and then use it to blackmail him!"

"No." Sasuke said simply, actually scared but unwilling to show any sign of fear.

"Please?" Naruto asked.

"Do you have ADHD or something? We just were told we were ninja, go home and celebrate or something." Sakura glared at her.

"I do not… probably don't… have ADHD!" Naruto growled, "And I… home… Saru-ouji, daycare! Oh, shoot!" Her expression changed from one of anger to one of panic, and she jumped up, shouting a quick goodbye to her two comrades, and she left the training area nearly as fast as their sensei had, but on her own two feet.

An intense flash of jealousy crossed Sasuke's face, but he calmed himself down almost immediately. Sakura cut him out with only a slight hesitation, and he thanked her grudgingly before heading home himself.

Sakura herself, jumping up and down after Sasuke had gone to relieve herself of some of the giddy emotions welling inside of her, thanked Kami breathlessly.

And so, the very first training session of Team Seven ended the way it always would. Late, and with a lot of screaming.


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay! Lots of reviews! You people make me so happy! I love you all! Thank you!**

**Disclaimer: Duh, I don't own Naruto, and I didn't do this for the other chapters because I simply didn't feel like it, but I did want to ask why we have to include a 'disclaimer' on a website titled ''. Just a thought.**

**And, to our feature presentation since no one wants to hear me babble on anyways…**

**

* * *

**

Naruto rushed into the daycare center, surprising the nurse on duty, but causing a very happy little boy to scream 'Ma!' and run to her. Naruto picked Saru up by the shoulders, twirled in a circle, and eventually planted him firmly on her hip. "Hello, ouji!" She grinned, poking his nose.

"Bah!" Saru exclaimed. "Ma late!"

Naruto frowned dramatically, "Is that so? You _dare _to criticize your mother! Saru, you must be punished!" She flipped Saru over, so his snow-blonde hair was sticking straight up, and he laughed loudly as he was held upside down.

"Be careful!" One of the nurses exclaimed, "You can't just pick up a kid and hang him upside-down!"

"Listen," Naruto paused, leaning slightly forward to read the nurse's name-tag, "_Hanna,_ I'm just bringing him home, don't worry, he likes it, see?"

Considering Saru was giggling like a maniac and saying, "Down! Down! Bad Mama!", while thoroughly enjoying it, the nurse relaxed.

"Oh, you're Naruto Uzumaki?" Hanna, the nurse, asked.

Naruto nodded, swinging Saru back, right-side up, and again setting him on his hip.

"Oh, well, it's nice to meet you. Saru was fine, although I think he swallowed a bug." The nurse informed her.

"Pwetty bug!" Saru exclaimed.

"You," Naruto poked Saru's nose again, "You are a big black hole, bugs are not for eating!"

"But… but… but pwetty bug." Saru protested.

"No bug, you eat what I put on your plate." Naruto scolded.

Saru bit his lip, thinking. "Pwetty bug on plate?" He asked.

Naruto sighed, realizing this was going to take a long time. "Thank you." She nodded to the nurse.

"No problem, I'm always happy to serve a ninja of Leaf!" The nurse attempted to smile, but it came out as a grimace. Naruto almost sighed again. She could tell what was going through Hanna's mind, it was likely, _How could a girl so young have a child? How horrible is that? Oh, the poor, poor, poor, thing! Why doesn't she just send the baby to an orphanage?_ Naruto grinned, turned around, and practically fled out of the daycare

* * *

On her way to her first day of missions, right as she was dropping Saru off at the daycare, Naruto bumped into someone she didn't ever want to bump into.

She didn't want to be late, and she hadn't looked where she was going, so she accidentally knocked against a person, mumbled the word sorry, and was a few steps away before a voice interrupted her.

"Hey, Pudgy-chan, that's rude!" Ino called out, glaring at Naruto's retreating figure.

Saru, who Naruto was holding in her arms, called out his normal greeting, "Mornin' Sunshine!" He smiled, peeking over his mother's shoulder to see the person who had called out to them.

"Hey, who's that?" Ino asked, stepping closer to them.

Naruto tensed, holding Saru closer to her. She didn't know what she was supposed to do, Iruka had stopped by her place earlier, and they'd discussed making Saru public among her teammates, but Naruto had voted against it for the time being. And now, the one person she _least_ wanted to know about Saru was standing right behind her.

"Aw!" Ino exclaimed, looking at Saru, "You're so cute!"

"Cute!" Saru repeated.

Reluctantly, Naruto turned around, shifting Saru slightly in her grip so he was facing Ino.

The girl Naruto despised was standing there, her arms full of flowers, and she was somehow grinning at Saru while managing to frown at Naruto. "Pudgy-chan, yoohoo, I'm still talking to you." Ino waved her arms, assaulting Naruto with a burst of smell that made her sneeze.

"Hello, Ino-chan." Naruto said, choosing that honorific to be polite. With horror, she noticed the headband Ino was still wearing around her middle. _So, she made it too. _"I'm just dropping off my neighbor's kid to daycare." She lied.

Ino laughed, "Who trusted _you_ with a toddler, clutz?"

Naruto's fists clenched tightly, but she checked herself in time, responding smoothly, "I'm good with kids. So, you made genin?"

"Yeah, our sensei had some stupid extra-test, but I passed, no thanks to Shikamaru and Choji, I'm surprised to see _you_ passed, but I guess Sasuke pulled the weight, huh?" Ino asked.

Naruto flushed, not out of embarrassment but fury. "Well, I think I did very well." She said through clenched teeth.

"Whatever." Ino dismissed her, concentrating her attention on Saru, who was watching the exchange with wide-open eyes. "You want a flower, little cutie?"

"Love bugs!" Saru grinned.

"Not a bug, _flower. Flow_-er." Ino pronounced.

"Flow! Wuh! Her!" Saru exclaimed.

Ino grinned, and rewarded Saru with a lily. Naruto seethed as she did this, horrified that a girl she hated so much would have the audacity to give _her _son a flower, but then she remembered that she told Ino that Saru was her _neighbor's_ son, and Naruto tried to get herself to relax.

Saru graciously took the lily, and immediately put it in his mother's hair.

Ino frowned slightly, but Naruto smiled at the snow-blonde haired toddler, and she poked him affectionately on his stomach, making him giggle.

"Well, I have to finish making deliveries, see you later, Pudgy-chan." The pale-eyed girl said.

"Bye, Ino-pig!" Naruto responded cheerfully.

Ino rolled her eyes, and walked away swiftly.

The moment she was out of sight, Naruto relaxed. "Good boy, Saru." She whispered.

"Flow. Wuh. Her. For Ma!" Saru replied.

_That was close._

* * *

"Hey! You're late, Pudgy-chan!" Sakura accused, pointing angrily at Naruto who had just walked in the clearing.

"You just got here, you're late too." Sasuke reminded her.

Sakura glared at him, but then remembered that she was in love with him, so she sat down right next to Sasuke and tried to take his arm. The moment her hand came into contact with his skin Sasuke jumped up, and offered Naruto the seat between him and Sakura as graciously as a person can offer a spot of dirt to another.

Naruto took the spot without hesitation, well aware of her status as a human shield, and she was fine with that.

Sasuke sat down next to Naruto, taking care that the blonde girl was blocking Sakura's view of him and his own view of the pouting fangirl. He was struck with the sudden desire to take Naruto's arm, just like Sakura had been trying to do to him, but he shoved the urge into the back of his head.

"So, we have about… an hour before the sensei arrives?" Naruto asked.

"Well, if you all had been here thirty minutes ago, like I was, you would have had to wait an hour and a half." Sasuke grumbled.

"My mother was going crazy, okay, she made me eat a huge plate of pancakes before I left and then I had to take a ton of pictures and suddenly she started crying her eyes out, it was like she thought I was going to die!" Sakura complained, "It's not my fault I was late."

Sasuke froze, suddenly bombarded with memories of his own mother making him breakfast.

Naruto froze, suddenly contemplating how much she wished she had had a mother to make her pancakes, and then she made a mental note to make pancakes for Saru sometime soon.

Oblivious to the turmoil she had just created inside of her two orphaned teammates, Sakura said, "Why are you late, Pudgy-chan?"

"Will you stop calling her 'Pudgy-chan'?!" Someone yelled, and it wasn't Naruto.

The two girls stared in surprise at the blushing Uchiha.

"Sorry," Sakura eventually forced out, staring at her feet.

Naruto leaned back, lying in the grass and staring at the sky.

Sasuke looked away from the two of them, finding a sudden, intense interest in a bug that was currently making the treacherous climb to the top of a stick.

Naruto noted that one of the clouds looked like a big mass with nine tails coming out of it, and her hand unconsciously went to her stomach, where a black seal seemed to notice the attention and appeared on her skin.

Sasuke wondered how long and how much preparation it had taken the bug to get to where it was, what it would do when it found out that its path did not leave to the sky but stopped short of it, and how it would feel when all that it had achieved was for naught.

Sakura wondered whether she should buy new sandals.

* * *

"Hello students, are you ready for a day of D-rank missions?" Kakashi asked, materializing in front of three sleeping teenagers who had no idea he was there.

Sasuke had fallen asleep leaning against a tree, with his arm wrapped around Naruto's shoulder. Naruto was leaning against his chest, and Sakura was leaning against Naruto's shoulder and Sasuke's hand.

Kakashi blinked slightly at the scene, noticing that something was off, but before he could investigate he wondered how the three of them would react if he woke them up in that position, and decided to find out, quickly summoning one of his dogs, Sairen. Sairen appeared in a puff of smoke, barked loudly seven times, and then disappeared.

Sasuke jumped, immediately wrapping his other arm around Naruto protectively, but the blonde girl shot up, slamming her head against Sasuke's chin without meaning to, rendering the whole action pointless. Sakura got up somewhat more groggily, but then recoiled in disgust when she realized she had fallen asleep against Naruto, and then tried to hit the blonde when she realized that Naruto had fallen asleep against Sasuke, which _should _have been her spot.

"Hello, students, are you ready for a day of D-rank missions?" Kakashi repeated.

"Some 'day of missions'," Sasuke grumbled, rubbing his chin, "You were supposed to be here four hours ago!"

Kakashi pretended to blush and rubbed the back of his neck in what he attempted to pass off as an innocent's gesture. "Oh, did I say to meet here at five hundred hours? I meant _nine_."

The genin glared at him, Sakura pounding her fists together in a way that reminded Kakashi of the Slug Sannin.

"Don't kill me; I'm the only one who knows our first assignment." Kakashi warned.

"I'm sure if we killed you we could always just ask the Hokage what are job is." Sasuke growled.

"Hah." Kakashi said humorlessly. "Well, we have to go to this address to help someone garden, anyone feel like leading the way?"

The two girls lifted their arms immediately, but Sasuke didn't bother.

Kakashi held out the paper that had the address printed on it, and Sakura ran to it, but Naruto didn't, deciding not to get into a fight over a stupid piece of paper.

Sakura grabbed it out of their sensei's hands, read it, and exclaimed, "I know where this is!", then began to walk away, Naruto following.

Sasuke stood up, still rubbing his chin, and he glared at his sensei who appeared to be staring at him. "What?" Sasuke asked.

"You _weren't_ asleep, were you?" Kakashi asked playfully.

Sasuke blushed slightly, "I was sleeping." He argued.

"Really? You fell asleep like that, leaving your two teammates open to any attack?"

"I _wasn't_ slee… I mean… who would attack us in the middle of the village?"

"So, which were you, asleep or awake?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke didn't answer.

* * *

"It's so hot!" Sakura complained.

"Yeah." Naruto agreed.

The three genin were sweating heavily, and had already collected a huge pile of weeds, but the garden the old lady had was immense, and they were only halfway done.

"Better hurry." Kakashi advised, turning a page and shifting slightly in his lounge chair.

"You could help us, you know!" Naruto shouted.

"Ah," their sensei lectured, "but this is to help you… build character… or something like that."

Naruto growled at him before returning to weed-picking.

"You better hurry if you want a better D-rank mission!" Kakashi offered, giggling slightly as he read another page in his book.

"Pervert." Naruto mumbled.

Ignoring her, Sakura asked excitedly, "What is the mission? Are we going to another country? Are we going to fight enemy ninja? Are we going to rescue a kidnapped-"

"We have to catch a renegade…" _cat_. Kakashi informed her, smirking into his mask as he saw how excited Sakura was.

* * *

"G One in position." A deep masculine voice said.

"G Two in position." Someone said monotonously.

"G Three in position." A disappointed, high-pitched voice said.

"…" No one said.

"G Four? Are you in position?"

"…"

"G four, report!"

"…zzz…"

"Naruto! Wake up!"

"…zzwah? I…huh… oh! G four in position!"

"How are you in position, you were sleeping!"

"I have seven clones surrounding the target, that's how, Sakura-drone!"

"Sasuke-kun told you to stop calling me that!"

"Well, you're such an idiot that-"

"Girls! Please! Mission!"

"Oh, sorry Sasuke-kun."

"Pompous bastard."

"Sasuke is right, you two concentrate on the mission and kill each other _later_."

"Sorry."

"Sorry, sensei."

"Now where's that damn cat?"

* * *

Naruto grunted as she pulled another box off of the shelf and onto the floor. "I am sure it's animal cruelty." She said.

"It's not animal cruelty if, _oof_, the cat's not harmed." Sakura said, groaning when she picked up the box Naruto had set on the floor and set it on the moving cart.

Sasuke dragged the box into the back of the cart, and didn't utter a sound as he picked it up to place it on top of some others. "I thought I heard the cat's spine crack." He informed them.

"So, it's animal cruelty then, so we shouldn't have to do that mission again?" Naruto asked.

"I can't believe we had to do the exact same mission twice in one day." Sakura sighed, grabbing another box.

Sasuke nodded, agreeing.

"Is it our fault the cat ran away again right after our lunch break?" Sakura growled, remembering the way the woman had yelled at them.

"That _was_ ridiculous." Sasuke said, refusing to let out a grunt even as his knees started to buckle under the weight of the box.

"When do we get off anyway?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi laughed at them. "Much later. You were supposed to be _un_loading the cart."

"Nani?!" Sakura screeched.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?!" Naruto moaned.

Kakashi shrugged, "I guess some other team already took the mission, clients don't wait, and we were late."

"You _made_ us late, you sloth!" Sakura screeched.

Kakashi shrugged. "So…? Now, we can take out a blind man's dry cleaning, or wash someone's fish."

"Why would we wash a fish?" Naruto asked.

"So it's clean."

"But it's a _fish_, it lives in water!"

"So, the blind man's dry cleaning then?"

* * *

Naruto collapsed onto her couch, nearly dropping Saru on the ground, since she insisted on carrying him home.

In true, selfish toddler fashion, Saru hit her with a pillow.

Naruto threw the pillow back, and Saru dodged.

Laughing, the snow-blonde toddler ran after the pillow, and once he caught it he threw it as hard as he could at his mother. He overshot his throw, and the pillow hit the wall behind the couch. "No!" Saru growled at the pillow, running after it.

"Why do you have so much energy?" Naruto wondered, exasperated.

The toddler responded by throwing the pillow again, only to miss again and have it hit the door. Apparently, he realized that this game was far too difficult, so he opted for picking up all of his toys and dropping them on his mother one by one.

Buried alive in story books, toy shuriken, and plastic figurines, Naruto lay still.

"Ma?" Saru asked worriedly, walking slowly up to her and removing a samurai toy off of her face.

"Ragh!" Naruto cried out, jumping out of the pile and grabbing Saru, tossing him onto the couch.

Saru squealed in terror as he was tickled mercilessly.

* * *

Naruto woke up again after four days of being a ninja/mother, and realized that she was exhausted and this was far harder than she thought. _Time for a change of pace. _She thought.

* * *

"Lousy, D-rank, missions." Naruto grumbled as her team once again walked into the Hokage's mission room to receive a new set of missions.

"Well, you have to start out somewhere, Naruto." Kakashi lectured her, but it completely went over her head.

"Lousy… lousy, D-ranks…" She continued to grumble.

"They'd be a lot easier if you would just stop complaining!" Sakura glared at her.

Silently, Sasuke agreed.

When they walked through the door, the Hokage looked up and smiled at them, but when his gaze passed over Naruto, there was another expression, guilt. "Ah, Team Seven, I have another mission list for you." He informed them.

"Stupid… D-rank missions…" Naruto mumbled.

"Naruto!" Iruka, who was sitting next to the Hokage and helping him sort his paperwork, scolded.

"No, it's fine." The Hokage shook his head. He turned to Naruto, "You _have_ only been a ninja four days."

"Four days of mind-numbing monotony." Naruto growled.

The Hokage seemed thoughtful. "I do have a C-rank mission we haven't sorted yet." He told them. "If you two wouldn't mind splitting a mission with another team."

"Lord Hokage! You can't possibly be thinking of sending genin to-" Iruka began to protest, looking pointedly at Naruto who bristled under his protective gaze.

"Yes, I think this would be a good idea. Team Seven and Team Ten have completed a good number of missions, and the experience would be good for them." The Hokage interrupted.

"Sir, with all due respect, I really don't think-"

"What do _you_ think, Kakashi-san?" Sarutobi asked the copy-nin.

Kakashi shrugged. "It's a C-rank, it should be relatively easy with two genin teams, and I have been looking forward to working with Asuma-san again."

"Ah, Asuma-san was injured when one of his students exercised a shadow technique and he was run over by a cart that was avoiding his other student who had dropped his bag of chips in the middle of the road." The Hokage explained. "But, I'm sure you wouldn't mind working with Gai-san?"

Kakashi blanched in terror, but with his mask no one could see his expression. "If you command, Lord Hokage, but doesn't Gai-san have his own genin team?" He asked.

The Hokage shrugged, "They're senior genin who will be fine taking on missions without a sensei for a day or two." He explained, "And I would like to see the youngest InoShikaCho in action, not to mention the…" _Sharingan/Jinchuuriki combo. _He thought. To the others, the Hokage simply trailed off.

"I do not recommend it." Iruka replied stiffly.

"Aw, I'll be fine Iruka-nii-chan!" Naruto smiled at him, despite her mind going crazy as she heard _INO-ShikaCho? Ino? INO?! _

"I'll take that into consideration, Iruka-san, but be reminded that I am the Hokage, and despite how protective you are of Naruto-chan, that I overrule you in these matters." The Hokage said.

Iruka reluctantly handed the Hokage the mission profile that he had been about to 'accidentally' toss into the shredder.

"Shall I inform the other three genin?" Kakashi asked.

"You can send yours to get them, they're in the file room, sorting." The Hokage informed them.

Kakashi grimaced, recalling the horrible job young genin are forced to do if their sensei is ever out of commission.

"Three floors down, door number twelve." Iruka told the three genin grudgingly, glaring at Naruto.

"Hai!" Naruto said, grinning.

"Hey, Pudgy-chan, race you downstairs!" Sakura taunted.

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed, the two girls prepared to start. "One!" Naruto announced.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his teammates antics.

"Two!" Sakura yelled, preparing herself.

"Three!" The two girls shouted together.

Sakura was off like a rocket, and Naruto ran four steps before giving up, and walking down slowly with Sasuke.

Naruto was smiling like a maniac. She was glad to have a D-rank mission, even if she had to spend it with Ino. Shikamaru and Choji, some friends she'd had from the Academy, would be there.

"Why are you so happy?" Sasuke asked her after they'd left the Hokage's office. "I thought you hated Ino."

Naruto shrugged. "She'll spend most of her time doting over you and competing with Sakura-chan, so if she does start to bother me I can just scream, 'Oh, Sasuke-kun, put your shirt back on!', and she'll leave me alone."

Sasuke glared at her. "I'm not taking off my shirt."

"I know, but the point is she's distracted and I have enough time to make a clone and replace myself with it." Naruto explained.

"So I'm just a distraction?" Sasuke looked away.

"Oh, no!" Naruto smirked at him. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "You're my perfect Ino-bait!"

Sasuke flushed slightly, but he didn't try to squirm out of her arms like he would have with Sakura and Ino. "Ino-bait?"

"Yeah! And if Ino-pig ever annoys me I'll just kiss you again to get her back!" Naruto announced.

Sasuke's gaze dropped to her lips, "Really?" He asked, wondering.

"Yeah." Naruto replied.

Sasuke leaned his face toward her for a few centimeters, but Naruto turned her face away, letting go of him.

"Race _you_ downstairs!" Naruto yelled, fleeing.

Sasuke stayed where he was, frozen. He closed his eyes and leaned forward a bit more, pretending Naruto was still there, before he caught himself and walked sullenly after his teammates.

* * *

"Hey! Ino-pig! How's filing?!" Sakura blurted out, stunning the pale-eyed girl who dropped a precarious pile of folders that fell on her and covered her in a layer of dust.

"Forehead!" Ino cried out in anger, the unspoken word '_nemesis_' hanging in the air. Ino shivered, desperately wiping the dust off of her with dusty fingers, ingraining it into her skin.

"How troublesome…" Shikamaru sighed, watching the two girls who were obviously about to fight. He had fallen asleep in a box to avoid Ino, but the sound of her enraged voice had woken him up.

"I dunno." Said Choji, he was sitting on a chair over the box Shikamaru had been hiding in and with every consonant he said he sprayed the lazy teenager with chips and spit.

Shikamaru was too lazy to move, so he just let the stuff fall on him.

"Argh! You ruined my outfit!"

"You're _face_ ruined my breakfast!" Sakura insulted, using something Naruto had said to her a few days ago that she'd secretly written on her arm to use later when the orange-clad girl was absent.

"Oh! You're in for it, Billboard Brow!" Ino cried out, dropping her folders and clenching her fists.

Sakura smirked. "_Sasuke_-kun sure _looooves_ my forehead, did I mention he was my teammate?"

"RARGH!"

"I'm sure roaring like a lion makes you more attractive." Sakura countered, thinking _Wow, four days of nonstop banter with Naruto-chan has been totally worth it! I have to thank her… or not… um… _

"You're just lucky! You have Pudgy-chan on your team so there's no competition!" Ino growled.

Sakura's face faltered, but she covered it by sticking out her tongue. _Actually, there's more competition than you'd think… although _what_ he sees in that obnoxious, fashionably-stunted girl I have no idea._

Naruto then entered the room, her face slightly pink. "Hey! Who's ready for a C-rank mission?" She asked loudly.

Shikamaru waved at her from his box. "Hey, Naruto-chan!" Choji greeted excitedly.

"Hey Choji-kun! Shikamaru-kun! How are things?" Naruto asked.

"Well, our kunoichi teammate is a real drag." Shikamaru drawled.

Ino bristled. "Hey! I'm a wonderful asset to the team! It was the two of _you_ who nearly killed out sensei!"

"_Nearly_ being the key word, you could have done something instead of trying to figure out whether that flower on the sidewalk was a 'violet' or a 'pansy'." Shikamaru growled.

"Guys! Please stop fighting!" Choji mediated.

But she refused to listen, and Ino burst into a long tantrum while Shikamaru fell dutifully asleep.

Then Sasuke entered the room, appearing to be extremely frustrated at something, but Ino ignored his expression and latched onto his arm.

Sasuke sneezed and tried to get away from her.

Ino remembered she was covered in dust and decided to kill Sakura for making_ her_ make Sasuke sneeze.

Naruto sat down against Shikamaru's box, closed the lid, and duct-taped it shut.

Choji offered Naruto a chip, and she took it, smiling at him.

Sasuke glared at Choji, who wondered what he did wrong.

Sakura tripped Ino with her newly painted trip wire that she'd only forgotten to paint before the test because she'd been so horrified over the kiss between Sasuke and Naruto, and the two girls began to brawl.

Meanwhile, upstairs, a green jumpsuit wearing man shouted on about youth and how honored he would be to accompany his eternal rival on a C-rank mission, while Kakashi ignored him as best as he could.

* * *

***Author's Note***

**The mission they are going on is NOT the Wave Mission! I repeat, NOT the Wave Mission! Team Seven will not be doing that mission in this arc, although I may mention another genin team doing it or something, sorry all of you Haku and Zabuza fans!**

***End Note***

* * *

"Ah, are you six ready?" The Hokage asked, the corners of his mouth threatening to turn into a grin as he surveyed the six genin.

Ino was covered in a layer of dust bruises and she was glaring at Sakura, who was also bruised and glaring at her. Naruto was standing next to Choji, who was smiling brightly at her as he supported Shikamaru, who was nodding off, and Sasuke was glaring at Choji and unleashing wave after wave of killer intent that the smug Akimichi was ignoring.

"Sure, it's just an overnight mission, right? Do we have to pack?" Ino asked, wondering if her new sun dress would be practical for completing a mission and also winning Sasuke's heart at the same time.

The Hokage shook his head. "For training purposes, you all are only taking a standard traveling pack along with you, and the mission is starting in an hour, so you don't have time to do much but take a quick shower before you have to leave." He said the word 'shower' specifically to Ino and Shikamaru, Ino being covered in dust and Shikamaru being covered in spit and chip crumbs.

"The power of youth will succeed as always! You youngsters have nothing to fear, for I am Maito Gai, taijutsu master and a man filled with the Power of Youth!" Gai exclaimed, drawing the stunned attention of all six genin.

"Oh, you're a person? I thought you were like… some kind of hallucination." Naruto said thoughtlessly.

Tears suddenly appeared on the tai-jutsu masters face, and he cried out, "Children! How can they be so hurtful?!"

Naruto stared at him in terror, and she backed away from the crazy man, hiding behind Sasuke, who was staring at the spectacle with his mouth open. The other genin had similar expressions on their faces, as if they could not believe what was before their eyes.

"Well, this will be fun." Kakashi mumbled unhappily.

* * *

The ninja were dismissed, and the Hokage left for his lunch break, leaving behind an orange-clad genin and a slightly disgruntled chuunin schoolteacher.

"Iruka-nii-chan?" Naruto asked, her large blue eyes pleading.

Iruka smiled at her. "I'll take Saru."

"Oh, thank you! You don't mind?" Naruto asked.

Iruka shook his head. "Not at all, it will be fun."

"Do you want me to pack his things?" She wondered.

"No, I'll do it, I have the spare key, remember, in case of emergencies." Iruka reminded her. "I'll pick him up from daycare and explain everything, you get the ninja pack and read the mission report."

"You're the best, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the schoolteacher's middle before running away.

"Take care, Naruto! Listen to your sensei!" Iruka called after her.

"Right!" Naruto said before slamming the door behind her.

Iruka frowned, knowing that the mission should be more than safe with two Jounin and six genin, but he couldn't help feeling a grand sense of foreboding.


	5. Chapter 5

_A C-rank mission! _Naruto thought, bouncing with excitement. Despite what Iruka had said, she wasn't leaving Saru in his care unprepared, so she was in her apartment, getting ready.

She threw Saru's sock and his favorite toys into a bag, while she wrote out swift instructions for Iruka. The Hokage had told them not to pack anything, just to take the standard ninja pack, but Naruto was practical, and she wasn't leaving for a mission without a change of underwear and a large shirt she could use as sleepwear.

Besides, they had an hour to wait before they had to meet up at the gate, and she didn't want to think of certain things right now. _Certain things _meaning a 'Sasuke Uchiha' who had been on her mind far more often recently than she cared to admit.

* * *

_WHY? Why did she run away?! Couldn't she see I was going to kiss her?! _Sasuke thought, throwing a random object at his wall and satisfyingly watching it shatter. _Hundreds of girls would give their right arms to kiss me, and she ran away! Ran away! Did my breath smell or something? _

At that thought, Sasuke breathed onto his hand and smelled it experimentally.

Proving that even a boy adored by the female population could have insecurities, Sasuke began to pace about his room. Halfway through each turn he passed a mirror, and each time he passed it Sasuke glared at his reflection, if only to have someone to glare at.

Eventually, however, this backfired, and the angry person in the mirror began to bother him, and Sasuke stopped pacing and jumped facedown on his bed. He then did an action which every hormone-crazed teen learned to do at some point to relieve themselves of the stress, he buried his face in a pillow and screamed as loud and as long as he could.

* * *

"We meet again, children! I hope your break was productive!" Gai exclaimed, smiling so brightly he nearly blinded the three genin who had already arrived.

Kakashi, his head buried in his porn novel, was spared the terrible fate, since his gaze didn't come into contact which a move known in several countries as the 'Blinding Smile no Jutsu'.

Naruto shivered at the sight of the tai-jutsu master, and, Sasuke not being available to hide behind, she settled for Choji, who supplied a far larger shield than Sakura, who was sitting on Naruto's right.

"Where are the youthful students of Asuma-san, and the only male student of my eternal rival?" Gai asked forlornly.

_He's even more of a freak than I am, and I have a murderous demon living in my stomach! _Naruto thought. _How can a grown man act like that? Is he… _Naruto voiced her suspicions, "Gai-sensei, are you gay?"

"Ah ha!" Gai replied, "You are not the first to ask that, but my sexual orientation is the same as any other in this room!"

"Naruto-chan and I are girls, we like guys." Sakura informed him.

Gai smiled again, "Well, I meant I am not gay! Though I have no qualms against those who are! Fortunate for the female population of Konoha, my orientation is, is it not?" He asked.

Naruto shivered, Sakura stared at him, and Choji just ignored it.

"Where are our clients?" Choji asked.

"They'll be meeting us here soon; they want to leave an hour before noon." Kakashi informed them.

"Want a chip?" Choji asked Naruto, who took it with a smile.

"Can I have one?" Sakura asked.

Choji happily shared his bag of chips with the two girls, relishing the fact he was center of attention, a feat he rarely obtained.

"Who's got Saru-kun?" Kakashi asked.

"Iruka-nii-san." Naruto replied.

Slightly curious, the two genin looked suspiciously at the Jounin and genin who had partaken in the exchange, but no other words were passed. Gai, however, was smiling down at Naruto like the creeper he was, and the blonde girl stared back at him. "What?" Naruto asked.

Gai announced loudly, "It is a testament to your greatness that you did not give up the chil-"

"Ah! Look, is that Sasuke-kun! Sakura-chan, look, Ino's talking to him!" Naruto interrupted, yelling as loud as she could at the spectacle.

Sakura jumped up, fists clenched. "Ino? Where is she?! I'll pound her into the ground for daring to touch _my_ Sasuke-kun!" Sakura blinked. "I don't see anyone, where are they?"

Naruto shrugged, taking another chip.

"What were you saying, Gai-sensei?" Choji asked curiously.

Gai looked seriously at Naruto for a moment, and then turning to Choji he used his Good Guy Pose and said, "The matter is unimportant now!"

"Freak." Sakura whispered.

Eventually, Ino and Shikamaru arrived, Ino tugging Shikamaru along by the ear. The boy was protesting loudly, "…I just fell asleep! I wasn't trying to ditch! Why'd you come to catch up on me anyway? Ow! Ino! Argh!" Ino let go of his ear once they'd reached the others, and Shikamaru instantly sat down, rubbing it and glaring at the pale-eyed girl. "Tch. How troublesome." He mumbled.

"Where's Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked immediately.

"Contemplating the mysteries of the universe." Naruto answered nonchalantly.

Ino paused. "What?" She asked.

"Personally, I think the mysteries that lie within the human soul and the dark habits of the mortal plane is a far more interesting case study, but that's just me." Naruto continued.

"Oh, you're kidding." Ino realized.

"Duh. Why on earth would Sasuke contemplate the mysteries of the universe in his spare time? He's too much of a prick for Kami to reveal his infinite secrets to." Naruto said.

Sakura, of course, even after only for days, knew that Naruto wasn't serious and was being playful, due to the way her mouth twitched in a smiled and her nonchalant tone. Ino, however, knew next to nothing about Naruto, and began to yell and scream at her about how amazing Sasuke was.

Naruto, not caring in the slightest, watched her rant with a vaguely interested look on her face, and she ate more of Choji's chips.

Not realizing that she was making a fool of herself, Ino continued for some more time before eventually settling down, and asking the two sensei's when the clients would arrive and she received the same answer that the others had received for asking the same question, which was an hour before noon. Ino settled for standing, instead of sitting like the others, forcing Sakura to stand too, just to show that she was better than Ino, although Sakura tried to be discreet about it, standing up to stretch and then staying there.

Shikamaru crawled over to Naruto and Choji, and the three of them lay down, quite happily, just outside of the gates. "That cloud looks like an antler." Shikamaru informed the others.

"Naw, looks more like a frog." Naruto replied.

Shikamaru blinked in surprise. "How does that look like a frog?"

Naruto shrugged. "It just does."

"Huh." Shikamaru said thoughtfully.

"Chip?" Choji asked.

Naruto graciously accepted.

"That one looks like a bowl of ramen." Choji added.

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed. "It even has naruto on it!"

Shikamaru snorted.

Suddenly, the three genin heard an excited squeal, and they realized that Sasuke had just arrived.

"Poor guy." Shikamaru sighed.

Naruto stood up. "I'll go save him." She volunteered.

At that moment, however, a large wagon appeared at the end of the street, driven by a man with a rather large potbelly that looked like he could have been pregnant who was flailing about with the reins. Instantly, moving faster than the genin could catch, Gai ran up to the man, took the reins, and steadied the horses into a halt, even though they hadn't been that out of control, but the pot bellied man had no idea what he was doing, so it was better safe then sorry.

However, Naruto and the others could help being slightly creeped out by the 'pretty horses, it's ooookay, Maito Gai saaaved you' cooing that was coming from the Jounin's mouth.

"Ah! Thank you!" The pot bellied man replied. "Your village is just so kind! Sending two teams of ninja to guard us, and even helping me with my beloved Tantu-chan/kun!"

By 'Tantu-chan/kun', the ninja assumed he meant the horse, although the reason for the honorifics 'chan/kun' were unperceivable, since the horse appeared to be a very powerful, black maned but brown haired, fresian male.

_Saru has a toy that looks exactly like that. _Naruto thought wistfully, realizing suddenly that she hadn't even left the village yet and she was already shutting down into worry mode.

"Ah, you're… Geri?" Kakashi asked, stumbling slightly as he said the name.

"Ay!" The man agreed. "I am Geri! My family will be arriving shortly, my wife Tatiana, my daughter Amaya, and my young son Chuuju!"

"I am Kakashi Hatake, I will be in charge of this mission. This is my partner, Gai, and the genin beneath us are," he said the names while pointing to each of the students as he said their names, "Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki."

"Nice to meet you all!" The man smiled.

"Hi."

"Nice to meet you."

"Will we have ramen on the trip, sensei?"

"It is an honor to make your acquaintance, I am sure we will perform satisfactorily."

"Hn."

The man smiled.

Gai engaged Geri in conversation, while Kakashi whispered to the genin, "They're early, but the basic outline is that this man's daughter is marrying a very rich merchant in Rice Country, and we will be escorting them to the wedding."

"Is there expected trouble?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "Probably another genin team from another village." He replied. "The merchant is not rich enough or connected enough to hire Jonin, or even Chuunin."

"So, why two teams then?" Choji asked.

"Because even if the merchant's enemies hire a genin team, they'll have a Jonin sensei, so if we have two teams, we can outnumber them, and if they have a Chuunin team we outnumber them. Besides, the merchant has hired two ninja teams to escort his fiancé, so we are filling the requirements of the mission." Shikamaru, surprisingly, answered Choji's inquiry.

"Hey," Naruto began, turning to Sasuke. She was going to say something about him being late for a mission by being trapped adoring over his own reflection or something stupid like that, when she saw his dour expression, and what looked like bandages on his right hand that were slowly turning pink. "Sasuke, are you okay?" She whispered, keeping her voice low, so Ino and Sakura wouldn't overhear and start fussing over him.

Sasuke appeared to be slightly startled, but he turned his face away from her and said, "I'm fine," as he moved his hand out of her line of sight.

"No!" Naruto protested in a furious whisper. "What'd you do to your hand?"

"Nothing." Sasuke growled.

Naruto frowned at him, and she pushed him slightly, the startled Uchiha stumbled from the unexpected gesture, and, his arm undefended, Naruto grabbed it and began to unravel the bandage. With a sympathetic hiss, she saw that his knuckles were cut and sorely bruised, and the white of bone was actually evident in one. "What'd you do?" She asked.

Sasuke stopped struggling, slightly fascinated by the feel of her hand in his. "I punched a wall." He said without thinking.

Naruto stared at him, an eyebrow raised.

"I… uh…" Sasuke fumbled, unsure how to explain that injury and Naruto's gaze was making him uncomfortable. "I didn't mean… I was reaching for… under my… couch and I fell over the side, and I reached out with a hand for support, but I hit it against the wall." Sasuke lied.

"You reached out for support with a fist?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Yes." Sasuke countered.

Naruto shrugged, "Fine, don't tell me." She reached into her pack and grabbed a simple, medicinal salve, and none-too-gently rubbed it into Sasuke's hand, causing him to gasp in pain. She used her own bandages, not wanting to reuse the already bloodied ones, and she wrapped them up tight, and used twice as much fabric as Sasuke had earlier before cutting the bandage off from the roll. She finished quickly, and let go of Sasuke's hand, which hovered for a moment where she had last touched it and then dropped to his side.

"Thanks." Sasuke said.

Naruto stuck her tongue out at him.

Meanwhile, the genin had been pestering Kakashi-sensei for some other information that Naruto and Sasuke completely missed, but the two pretended like they were listening.

Not long after, a sour-faced woman in her thirties, a grim little boy, and a sixteen year old girl who would have looked radiant if it wasn't for the barely hidden terror on her face, walked down the path to meet the ninja.

The sour-faced woman was Geri's wife, Tatiana, the grim little boy was Chuuju, and the beautiful girl was Amaya, and the ninja were similarly introduced to them.

"Oh, you're Sasuke Uchiha! Hi, I'm Chuuju!" The grim little boy said once the ninja were introduced to him, his face lighting up.

"Hn." Sasuke said.

"That's so cool that you're going to be escorting them! I saw that exhibition fight a year ago, for the new recruits entering the Academy, you took down three older students without breaking a sweat! You're awesome!" Chuuju rambled. "If only…" He looked back at his sister, who attempted to smile at him.

_What's that about? _Naruto wondered, studying the two siblings' expressions carefully, but she was unable to place them.

"Well, I am sure Maito Gai-san will not mind watching the horses?" Geri asked.

Gai, of course, agreed, but his face was serious and he did not yell about 'the wonders of youth' or something along those lines.

In fact, the arrival of the dreary three clients had placed a serious blanket over the entire situation, and the only ones who did not appear to notice were Ino, Sakura, and Shikamaru, the latter of which would have normally caught on immediately, but he was currently fast asleep.

"Well then, sooner we start the sooner we get paid." Kakashi said brightly, breaking the mood with his 'eye-smile'. "Team 10, Ino-chan should ride with the cargo in the back of the cart, Shikamaru-kun and Choji-kun walk alongside the horses, Team 7 in the back along with Amaya-chan and Chuuju-kun, I will be up front with Shikamaru-kun and Choji-kun, and if Geri-san and Tatiana-san don't mind me bossing them around, I would like for one of you to ride alongside Gai-san and the other to walk next to me." Kakashi ordered. He made his way to the front of the cart, and as he did so, he passed Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto, "Keep a close eye on Amaya." He whispered.

All members of Team 7 nodded.

* * *

_Only five hours into the mission, you have kept your sanity for five hours into the mission, don't worry, Sasuke, this will be fine… stop it… Sasuke, suicide will not help you achieve your ambition… stop… shut up! Why does every single person I meet have to chatter nonstop! _Sasuke thought miserably.

"-and so I said to my friend that people with bloodlines are better than normal ninjas, but he said that since you didn't use your bloodline, it was different, and so I got to wondering if 'blood' has something to do it, so instead of those super awesome red Sharingan eyes, there's some other aspect to bloodlines, and I asked my teacher, but since I go to civilian school, he had no idea. So later, I asked my mom, but she doesn't talk much. So I asked Amaya, and she knows a lot more about ninja's than I do, and I should've asked her at first, but anyway, Amaya said that genes are like… part of who you are, so like, you get half from your mother and half from your father, but you can't pick which ones, so that's why some people are born without bloodlines, even if they're part of the clan, so-" Chuuju rambled on, having been talking nonstop since they arrived, desperate to cling to Sasuke's side and just talk to him.

Sasuke was having a completely miserable time, he was antisocial by nature, and he didn't enjoy crowds, although secretly he liked to be the center of attention. However, having Ino, Sakura, and Chuuju competing for his attention while Naruto was obviously _not_ competing for his attention, and was in fact nearly ignoring him, made the last five hours of his life some of his most hated memories, right up there next to his sessions with a psychiatrist and the night his family… died.

How was it a stupid blonde had so much of an effect on him?

_Oh, right,_ Sasuke remembered, _I think I might have a crush on her._

He sighed, trying to block out Chuuju and the two fangirls and focus on the blonde braid on his teammate, tracing the pattern with his eyes. _Why is it, _he wondered, glancing for a moment at the two girls who were now trying to kill each other with poorly thrown kunai, _that they are so secure in the fact that they're in love with me? Is it easier for other people to know they're in love? Am I just stubborn, or is it just a crush? How is someone supposed to know? _

He contemplated asking Ino or Sakura for advice on this, but the moment he thought it he dismissed it. _So… who to ask? _Sasuke's gaze lingered for a moment on his sensei's back, who was currently reading while walking. _Do I ask the perverted sensei? No, definitely not… What about… _He glanced at the green-clad taijutsu master who was egging the horses on with frequent cries of 'youth!' and 'majestic creatures, pull on!' _Do I ask… no, don't even think about it. So… who am I supposed to…_

…_is there anyone?_

Suddenly, Sasuke felt incredibly lonely.

"-and so I said that toads can give people warts, but Tami-kun said that warts are cool, but I said that my mom said that her mother told her that warts are bad and stuff, so Tami-kun and I decided to practice the taijutsu move you did, where you flipped the people over your shoulder, but we couldn't do it, and Tami-kun broke her arm-"

"-Ha! You ugly pig! You can't even throw a kunai right!-"

"-kunai! Why do I need kunai if you can't take a punch?-"

Ah, yes, the constant chatter was not helping his mood.

* * *

Kakashi sighed, and gestured for Shikamaru to take Ino's abandoned post on the cart with the cargo. The boy immediately did so, and fell asleep.

* * *

Amaya walked to the side of the cart, and Naruto, taking Kakashi's words to heart and avoiding her teammate, Amaya's little brother, and a certain raven haired genin who was walking as if an ethereal cloud of doom was dogging his every footstep, walked next to the fiancé of the merchant.

"Hi." Naruto said.

Amaya nodded in reply.

The blonde whistled softly, staring at the clouds around her, wondering what Shikamaru was doing. Then she saw that the lazy genin was asleep on the cart, and she bristled. Then again, Shikamaru was probably hating this walk more than Sasuke, and Naruto was actually enjoying being under the sun, away from the village, away from her responsibilities, away from… Saru…?

Naruto decided she hated this. She missed her son. She missed Iruka. She missed ramen. And she was less than six hours into the mission.

"I'm going to miss the village." Amaya said.

Surprised, Naruto stared for a moment at Amaya. She hadn't a clue why the raven haired beauty had decided to speak to her, but she responded, "Yeah, I already miss it."

Amaya nodded sullenly. "At least you get to come back."

"I'm sure your husband won't mind you coming home." Naruto said, smiling.

Amaya glared at her. "How are we supposed to know that? Neither of us have even met him!" She growled.

"Y… you've n… never met h… him?" Naruto stuttered, her blue eyes wide.

"Crazy, huh, my grandfather decides to give his most beautiful daughter to his business partner, and now no one's left in my family to take care of my little brother except my stepmother who can't _stand_ the sight of her bastard son!" Amaya hissed.

_Is this one of those times where people tell their troubles to a random stranger to sort out their feelings? Like a… a… shrink? Does she think I'm her shrink? _Naruto wondered. "Well," she said, smiling pleasantly, "How do you feel about that?" _That's what shrinks are supposed to say, right?_

"It's horrible!" Amaya exclaimed, making sure she kept her volume to a level where no one else to hear her. "And that man over there, my _father_, just listens to my stepmother like she's Kami!" She growled. "I haven't even seen a picture of the man I'm supposed to marry."

Amaya was silent after that, even when Naruto directly addressed her.

Naruto decided that girls, even if they weren't fangirls and obsessing over Sasuke, were far too difficult to figure out. Then her gaze fell on Shikamaru, the lazy boy who secretly was the most brilliant person she'd ever met, and then Sasuke, who was a maze she could never seem to understand, and she decided that it wasn't just girls. Everyone in the world was crazy.

She wasn't an exception, Naruto decided. After all a jinchuuriki who was also a mother masquerading as a normal kunoichi was definitely complicated.

_How long until we stop so I can sleep? _Naruto wondered, her head drooping.

* * *

Eventually, the two fangirls became so exhausted that they stopped arguing with each other, Chuuju had fallen asleep on the cart, along with Amaya, Shikamaru, Ino and Sakura, and the only people fully awake were Kakashi, Gai, Geri, Tatiana, Sasuke, and Naruto. Finally, even if he was exhausted since the sun had fallen hours ago and they'd been walking the entire time, Sasuke shuffled his feet slightly to walk next to Naruto.

"Hi." Naruto said quietly, apparently exhausted.

"Hi." Sasuke said.

Naruto was walking, her face set in an expression of intense concentration. She didn't speak for a moment, and neither did Sasuke. Eventually, she said, "What do you know about marriage?"

Sasuke jumped, startled. "M… marriage?" He stuttered.

Naruto didn't seem to notice his discomfort, and she continued, "Yeah, marriage. Can you get married without even meeting the person you're going to marry?"

Sasuke nodded, confused, "It's called an 'arranged marriage', people set them up to make business arrangements, peace treaties… to further a bloodline…" He trailed off.

"Amaya's never met her husband." She said, her face downcast. "She doesn't even want to marry him. It must be terrible."

Sasuke nodded, grateful that the conversation was _not _as personal as he'd first imagined it to be. "I guess." He said, "I've been offered plenty of arranged marriages, but I've always had the ability to refuse."

"Really?" Naruto turned at him in surprise. _Wow, Sasuke really has a lot of people willing to… she_ dismissed her train of thought.

Sasuke just nodded. For a while, they continued in silence.

"I could never do it." Naruto said. "I'd never be able to marry someone just because I'd been told to. No matter what it was for, I just… I'd have to know someone before I married them, it would have to be my decision, no matter how desperate I… I would be. I just couldn't."

"Me neither." Sasuke confessed. "The thought of marrying someone I don't know is disgusting. If I did, the person would probably end up to be some stupid fangirl with a squeaky voice obsessed with pink and purple and lace." He grimaced at the image.

Naruto chuckled softly. "You don't like fangirls, I presume."

"Dobe." Sasuke replied.

"Teme." Naruto said.

Strangely, those words didn't feel like insults.

* * *

They only walked for an hour more before they stopped, the ninja waking each other up to set up four tents, three for them and the largest one for the clients.

The ninja were tired enough that they merely fell on their sleeping bags before falling asleep. Kakashi and Gai slept in one tent, the second largest one, because the copy-ninja wanted to sleep as far away from the creepy taijutsu master as possible even though they were trading shifts, Choji, Sasuke, and Shikamaru slept in another, and Ino, Sakura, and Naruto shared the last tent.

Naruto, who had the most stamina and was the least tired, was awake enough to slip into the large, gray shirt she had brought against regulations, and was the only one of the girls to chuckle when she saw that all three of them had done the same thing, bringing spare clothing. Ino and Sakura claimed both ends, desperate to get away from their rival, and Naruto took the middle. Her gaze, as she fell asleep, locked on the wall of the tent where she knew the boy's tent lay directly behind.

In another tent, Sasuke's eyes also drifted to where he knew Naruto was sleeping before he too, fell into the blissful nothingness of sleep.

* * *

"Targets have left Konoha, they managed to make a day's journey on the Rice road, despite leaving at noon. They are accompanied by two genin teams from Konoha, each with a jounin sensei, the Bingo book identifies the Jounin as Kakashi Hatake, a.k.a. Konoha's Copy Ninja, the Second White Fang, and the Man of a Thousand Jutsu, and Maito Gai, a.k.a. Konoha's Green Beast, the Guy With Huge Eyebrows, the One in Spandex Who Keeps Killing Everyone, and the Green Blur." Someone whispered into a microphone.

"…bzzzt… And the genin, anyone important? …bzzzt…" Said what sounded like two masculine voices together.

The person said, "Yes, one team is very reminiscent to the old InoShikaCho combo, possibly their children, and on the other team is Uchiha Sasuke, and a girl who appears to be Konoha's jinchuuriki, but we can't be sure. She has marks on her face that look like whiskers, and long blonde hair, but no sign of the kid, however I doubt even if she was the jinchuuriki that she would bring her son along."

"…bzzzt… Who knows with those fucking monsters, right? …bzzzt…" Said a female voice.

"…bzzzt… Language, Tayuya. …bzzzt…" Warned a very deep, male voice.

"I think we can complete are objective if we separate the groups, distract the jounin, take out the InoShikaCho, and get the Uchiha away from the jinchuuriki and that other person on his team." Someone said, leaning back into his web.

"…bzzzt… Fucking Konoha, getting in our fucking way. …bzzzt…" Tayuya cursed.

"…bzzzt… A lady shouldn't speak that way. …bzzzt…" Jirobo warned.

"…bzzzt… We think the two of you need to concentrate on the mission, it just got a lot more complicated, Orochimaru-sama has special plans for that Uchiha boy, as the leader, I recommend we abstain from harming him too seriously. …bzzzt…" Sakon and Ukon said together.

"You know, you two sound weird when you're talking together." Kidomaru informed them, leaning back into his web.

"…bzzzt… Just fucking tell us when we should attack! …bzzzt…"

"…bzzzt…. Tayuya, a lady shouldn't. …bzzzt…"

"…bzzzt… Don't tell _me _what I fucking _can _and _can't _do! …bzzzt…"

"Please," Kidomaru said into the microphone, "Save it for the mission you two, we have money to make for that upcoming invasion, and we have to get it fast, Orochimaru's already masquerading as the Kazekage, and it's only a month and two weeks until the Chuunin Exams."

"…bzzzt… So, on the signal tomorrow?" Asked Sakon, and Ukon asked, "Is the signal still the old one? …bzzzt…"

"Yeah, tomorrow." Kidomaru said.

* * *

Morning broke on the day of the mission. Kakashi and Gai were none the worse for the wear despite splitting shifts all night between the two of them, both still chipper as ever, Kakashi reading his porn and Gai shouting on about 'youth' as he stirred a large pot in the middle of the clearing. Sasuke, not a morning person, woke up a little before everyone else to wake himself up slowly.

By the time Gai's pot was almost ready, the only people left sleeping were all of the clients, Shikamaru and Naruto, Choji having smelled the cooking and immediately identified it as 'Breakfast Ninja Stew' woke up only a few minutes after Sasuke, and Ino woke up when Sakura accidentally hit her in the face when she was sleeping, and she then woke up Sakura by hitting her back.

Once the food was done, Kakashi woke up Naruto, Shikamaru, and the clients, and the six half-asleep people walked into the clearing half asleep. No one talked as everyone ate, since they could feel the tension coming from the two jounin sensei, who had been expecting a fight a long time ago, but it had not yet occurred, meaning the enemy was likely to attack at any moment.

Kakashi checked over his team, reminding them to keep their kunai sharp and ready, and Gai talked for a moment to Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru, before going to saddle the horses.

Geri tried to talk to Choji once he'd gotten back, obviously interested in the ninja experience the genin had, but no answer was forthcoming except for a reassuring, 'We're ready to protect you, sir!' Apparently, Chuuju had informed him sometime before they went to bed that Sasuke had graduated from the Academy only five days ago, and he was curious as to whether the other genin team also had that lack of experience. Choji, however, wasn't stupid enough to confirm his suspicions.

They were soon on the move again, grateful to learn that Rice Country was less than a day's journey away.

Shikamaru was certain he'd read in a book somewhere that Rice Country was an entire week away from the village, but when he asked Kakashi the jounin informed him that Rice was only a few days away, since they were only going a few miles into the interior, but if they had been heading to the capitol or somewhere along there it would have been a week.

Satisfied, the ninja headed out, and it wasn't long before they fell into their old groove, Chuuju talking animatedly to Sasuke, who looked like he was passing a kidney stone due to the pained expression on his face, Shikamaru sighing and walking next to Choji, Ino and Sakura alternatively screaming at each other, racing, or playing rocks, paper, scissors with more fervor than the game was ever meant to be played with, and Naruto keeping an eye on Amaya, walking next to her.

"Feeling better?" Naruto asked tentatively, trying to smile pleasantly at the distraught beauty.

"No." Amaya replied scornfully, glaring at the blonde ninja.

"Oh," the orange-clad genin sighed, watching her feet.

"Alert." Kakashi reminded the genin, who immediately brought their hands to their weapons and started scanning the area.

The order came none-too-soon, there was a sudden scream to their left, and the ninja turned to see Ino covered in some sort of white goo, and she was being dragged off by a ninja with six arms who looked like a humanoid spider. Next, the sound of sweet music came from all around them, and two huge monsters surged out of the ground in front and behind them, startling the horses and causing them to rear. Naruto ran to help Ino, who was being pursued by Choji and Kakashi, when she suddenly found herself flying off in the air, and she instantly hit a tree with enough force to knock her out.

Shakily, she thought she heard someone shout her name, and she saw an extremely large man standing next to Amaya, who must have hit her when she wasn't paying attention. Sasuke was staring at her in terror, and she saw him beginning to run to her when someone blocked her vision.

Naruto looked up, and saw a man with extremely pale skin and dark lips with… _Is that another head on his back?! _

"Hi, no offense, this is just a mission, but I have to kill you know." Sakon said, making several hand seals.

Naruto began to make a hand seal of her own.


	6. Chapter 6

**Warning, slight language (goes for last chap. too), but seriously, Tayuya curses over and over in the show, so like, whatever.**

**Thanks for all the reviews, they're totally inspiring me! 3 u! And you'd better appreciate this, it takes tons of writing and rewriting for me to get fight scenes right, but this is Naruto, so there has to be fights. Bear with me, I am unskilled in this, and it was super hard, but thankfully my grandfather was home, and so I was forced into working as hard as I could under the guise of 'homework' to avoid him.**

**(I don't hate my grandfather, but he's taking up all of my family's time, and I have nothing else to do except this and play videogames with my little brother [shiver] since my bedroom doubles as the guest room since we have a tiny house.)**

**Sorry for ranting, but well… I felt like it.**

**Please leave more nice reviews! I'll reward you by updating as often as I can!**

* * *

Naruto sat in a giant prison made of stone. The larger ninja had pushed the two-headed man out of the way, shouting something about a delicious meal and tons of chakra, and Naruto, still dazed from hitting the tree, couldn't do anything but watch as the larger man quickly made hand seals, and she found herself in a giant stone prison, that was visibly sucking out her chakra.

It was a good thing, Naruto surmised, that she had a huge amount of chakra, because anyone else would have been unconscious by now. She'd made a clone, but it had gotten trapped in with her, and it was promptly dispelled.

_Wow, how embarrassing, I can't believe we were taken down that fast. _Naruto sighed, trying to think of a way to get out of the prison, by she'd tried hitting it a hundred times and making shadow clones, but she couldn't make a dent in the walls and her shadow clones lasted about five seconds before dispelling. The only other trick she had left were probably exploding notes, but she'd be more likely to blow herself up than the prison.

* * *

Sasuke roared loudly, he charged the large, red mohawked ninja, and as he ran he began to pull out a kunai.

Jirobo, however, dashed toward Sasuke, he easily closed the distance between them, and the moment he could, lashed out with one hand and grabbed the wrist in which Sasuke held the kunai. "You're the Uchiha, eh?" He asked.

Sasuke glared at him and pretended to struggle to get out of the large Sound ninja's grip, but he actually was reaching to his back pocket, which held a storage seal full of shuriken.

Jirobo frowned at him, noticing the slight of hand. "What is it with youths today and the lack of manners?" He wondered, twisting Sasuke's wrist so that the Uchiha gave a twirl and ended up with his back to him.

Sasuke tried to reverse the attack, but he only managed to kick the large Sound ninja in the stomach.

Jirobo growled, and pulled back with one hand, using all of his strength, which was greatly increased due to the excellent meal he was having, he punched Sasuke straight into the ground.

His mouth full of dirt, jaw aching, and skeleton structure tingling, Sasuke knew that the correct thing to do when he was so obviously outmatched would be to flee and get backup. Then, his gaze turned to a large pile of stones, which his opponent was connected to by a steady stream of blue chakra, and his resolve hardened.

Jirobo didn't see the defiance in his enemies eyes, only the fact that he'd beaten him. "Your girlfriend has a remarkable amount of charka," he taunted. "She's _delicious_." He licked his lips while grinned wickedly.

Sasuke screamed at him, jumping up to his feet and forming rapid hand seals while backing slowly away from the Sound ninja.

His left eye was red, and bearing a single tomoe.

* * *

Kakashi nodded once to Gai, and chased after the direction where he'd seen Ino disappear. After hard running for a while, following a trail of white goo, he found them.

A man with six arms like a spider, and an apparent ability to spin webs like one, was running away from him, holding a string to which was attached a panicking genin who he was dragging behind him like a kite. The man was obviously not paying attention at all to where Ino went, or, more importantly, what she hit as he so carelessly flung her about, so Kakashi had to hesitate in his running to throw an exploding note attached to a kunai beside the man, getting rid of a tree which Ino would have surely bashed her brains against, dying instantly.

Kidomaru hissed as he caught a glimpse of the man following him, he didn't get a good look, but he could see that it was obviously one of the Jonin. To distract the following ninja, he continued to toss his catch about like a sack of sand, and he saw with satisfaction that the Jonin could not allow any harm to come to the young girl. _Classic damsel-in-distress syndrome. _Kidomaru thought.

Kakashi couldn't keep up with the spider-ninja and protect Ino at the same time as he was, so it was obvious that he needed to catch up to what the enemy was doing. Therefore, he lifted his headband, revealing his Sharingan. From then, he could see the spider-ninja's moves a few moments before they happened, and he was able to gain distance on them.

Kidomaru, sensing that the enemy was gaining, looked around with his head to see how he could possibly be catching up to him. His eyes widened when he realized that the enemy following him was Kakashi Hatake, and he'd revealed his Sharingan.

_Well then, _Kidomaru thought; _let's see just how well I hold up to this 'Sharingan' power that Lord Orochimaru is so obsessed with._

* * *

"Genin!" Gai shouted, keeping an eye on the two monsters flanking the cart. "Choji and Sakura, help Sasuke and Naruto!" He shouted out, using first names so that the ninja wouldn't get hints as to who they were, since and ninja worth his salt knew about the 'Akimichi' and 'Uchiha' clans, who were famous in wars. He avoided honorifics, since there wasn't any time.

Standing to the side of the road, right where Ino and Kakashi had disappeared into the forest, there was another sound ninja, this one with red hair and a very sour expression of her face. To her mouth, she brought up a flute, and he began to play a few notes, the monsters responded to her call, and they took a few steps forward.

"Nara," Gai said, using a last name because he actually forgot Shikamaru's first, "get the kids out of here, keep them safe." He said calmly. He stood up in the saddle, making sure to hold in the panicing horse. "Geri, get your wife out." Gai ordered.

Unfortunately, Geri didn't listen. He crawled into the back of the cart, like Gai ordered him to, but when he found his unconscious wife, who had likely fainted from terror; he cradled her in his arms and didn't leave the back.

Gai frowned, but he continued to lock eyes with the Sound ninja. "You were hired to take us out?" He asked.

Tayuya took her mouth off of the flute, and shrugged, "Hired to kill the girl." She corrected.

"Well, then," Gai nodded, still frowning at her, "I can't hit a female, that's against my code."

Tayuya growled, "Well then! You're just like my teammate! I'm as strong as any boy! I'm not a _lady_! So watch out, eyebrow-man!"

Gai nodded, not being able to respond, still trying to keep the horse steady. If Geri had only gotten his wife and himself out of the cart when the Sound ninja was distracted with controlling her monsters, he would be able to let the cart go and confront the female Sound ninja, but as it was, he couldn't abandon his hold on the horse.

Tayuya brought her flute up to her mouth, and she began to play again, sensing the dilemma the Jonin was currently facing.

The moment the monster in front of the cart, and the monster behind it charged, so did the horse, slick with sweat. Without a care to the harness attempting to reign him in, or the weight he were carrying, the two creatures surged to the side, and thundered down the road, successfully dodging the attack.

Tayuya growled, and took a moment to make sure her monsters didn't slam into each other, and then she concentrated on playing her melody while pursuing the runaway target.

Gai yelled out a quick, "Yahoo!", and gave the horse a free reign, ready for a thrilling chase.

The horse pounded down the path, foaming from the mouth, and his eyes white in terror as he heard the two pursuing footsteps of monsters. Suddenly, the horse's speed tripled as the sound of a third set of footsteps joined the other two.

They were going so fast that the forest flew by them, and Gai's eyes were streaming with tears. Wind whipping about his ears, he could barely hear the two screaming people in the back of the cart, who were apparently both conscious now, and holding onto the luggage for dear life. With shock, Gai realized that a single jolt could likely cause the passengers to fall off, and he had to find a way to slow down the chase, and gain a measure of control.

He sent out a chakra flare so he could feel the horse. Strain was beginning to wear down his stride, and the horse would not be able to keep up this chase much longer, they were already going far harder than they should.

* * *

Shikamaru jumped out of the cart, grabbing Amaya, who was holding Chuuju, and practically dragged them to the edge of the forest.

Chuuju screamed as he took in all that was happening around them, and the creepy Sound ninja with the head on his back turned at the noise and he connected eyes with Shikamaru.

The Sound ninja grinned, mouthed "Dead," and took a few steps toward them.

Eyes widening with a mixture of panic and an attempt to take in everything around him and analyze it, Shikamaru shouted out "Choji, Sakura! Here!"

The two other genin, who had just jumped off of the cart, heared Shikamaru.

Choji immediately stepped after his friend, but Sakura grabbed the Akimichi's arm, halting him. "Gai-sensei said to help Sasuke-kun!" Sakura reminded him harshly.

Choji glared at her. "Amaya is our mission! They need our help! If you have so much faith in Sasuke, let Naruto and him handle the other guy themselves!"

Sakura opened her mouth to protest, but she saw something in Choji's face, and she closed her mouth and nodded.

The two genin changed direction, joining Shikamaru.

Choji immediately took Chuuju from Amaya's hands, which she was evidently grateful for.

Shikamaru, not keeping his eyes off of the Sound ninja, who had yet to take another step, motioned for the others to join with him in ducking down under a brush. It unnerved him that the Sound ninja still was connecting eyes with him, and that he had such a hungry expression on his face, but Shikamaru didn't allow that to distract him.

"Choji!" Shikamaru commanded, "Give Amaya-san your kunai holder!"

Choji did so, and Sakura helped the girl tie it around her leg. Amaya didn't protest, grateful for someone to be giving her direction.

"Amaya, give your coat to Sakura. Choji, give your Amaya your scarf! Sakura, give Amaya your headband, Amaya, wear the headband around your forehead!" He continued to command.

The four people present stared at him like he'd gone insane. "What?!" Sakura yelled. "Give _her_ my headband?!"

"Choji will not need his weapons, Chuuju needs to get out of here and Choji's going to take him far away. To distract the enemy, Amaya gets Choji's scarf, it'll make him less sure of was he saw, and he also saw there were two females, but not who was who. We're disguising Amaya-san as a kunoichi, and Sakura as the target. Therefore, the enemy will be careful in facing Amaya, who will only participate by staying by Sakura and throwing kunai, and he will underestimate Sakura which will be his downfall, got it?" Shikamaru asked.

No one said a word, but began to pass around clothing as directed.

* * *

Jirobo blanched as he saw the Uchiha's red eye, immediately recognizing it as the bloodline his lord had recently been obsessing over. He was unsure whether or not Orochimaru would be pleased to learn that it had activated, but he knew that now it was more imperative then ever that he not harm the Uchiha. "Boy, my name is Jirobo, I do not want to fight-" He began.

Jirobo's attempt at surrender went ignored.

"Fire style!" Sasuke yelled, "Pheonix Flower Jutsu!" He brought his hand up to his mouth and a stream of fire appeared. He poured his chakra into the move, desperate to burn his enemy 'Jirobo' to a crisp.

Jirobo dodged, but the fire stream continued, and he turned to flee, knowing that the Uchiha would likely run out of chakra after prolonged use of the jutsu, since an elemental technique normally took a lot of chakra. While he was thinking, the Uchiha somehow managed to singe him with his jutsu, and Jirobo cringed, glaring at the boy. "I'm trying to negotiate!" He cried out.

Sasuke stopped. When the smoke cleared, Jirobo was looking slightly worse for the wear and was holding his right arm painfully, while Sasuke was practically covered in kunai, shuriken, and exploding tags, looking furious, and with one black and one red eye, and the Sound ninja almost shivered at the killer intent that radiated off the frightening figure. "Let." Sasuke growled, "Naruto. Go." He demanded.

Jirobo froze for a moment. Suddenly, he smirked. "Now, now, Uchiha, don't do anything rash, or blondie gets it." He stopped as Sasuke sent another wave of killer intent after him, and his sadistic grin grew wider.

Jirobo licked his lips and sighed dramatically. "She's such a _wonderful _meal… _so _much chakra…"

Sasuke took a step forward, tensing his muscles like he was going to release his barrage of attacks, but Jirobo held up a hand to stop him, pointing to the visible line of chakra flowing from the rock prison to him. "Don't make me kill your little girlfriend." He warned.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked bitterly.

"Well," Jirobo thought, "I just want the fiancé of the merchant dead, that's our mission anyways."

Distress was evident in Sasuke's features. "_I _don't have the girl. Let Naruto go!" He demanded, trying to cover up the fear in his voice.

Jirobo chuckled, _Lord Orochimaru will be pleased to learn how sweet the Uchiha boy is on this girl, won't he? _"Well, my job is to defeat that jinchuuriki." He said, waving his hand in the general direction of Naruto. "And keeping you out of the way is just a bonus, but I don't think if I let the two of you go that you'd just sit out of the battle, would you?"

"We might," Sasuke lied. He frowned. "What's a jinchuuriki? Are you insulting her?"

Jirobo started. "Don't you know?" He asked.

"Know what?"

The Sound ninja stared for a moment, and then just shook it off. Their intel was either wrong, or the jinchuuriki had some reason for not sharing with the group, either way, he didn't really care to elaborate. "It doesn't matter. I have the girl, you have nothing to bargain with except your skills as a ninja, which are abysmal compared to mine. So, how do you plan on winning?"

"I kill you." Sasuke said simply.

Jirobo smirked. "That prison is reinforced with my chakra, you kill me, it collapses on your little friend. What then?"

Sasuke tensed. "I defeat you, free Naruto-chan, and _then _kill you." Sasuke revised his plan.

Jirobo sighed. "Think it through, I'm stronger than you are, you're Jonin sensei's are all gone, and none of your teammates can help you."

"I will _not _allow Naruto to die! So no matter _how_ strong you are, or _how _confident, you will _not defeat me_!" Sasuke shouted.

Jirobo did something he never thought he would do after spending so much breath chiding Tayuya for it. He cursed a string of foul words.

Sasuke's eyes were both red now, each bearing a tomoe.

* * *

"Yahoo!" Gai shouted, he'd slowed the horse so he had a measure of control, and created a shadow clone to keep Geri and Tatiana on the cart, so now he was just enjoying the chase, as the female Sound ninja thundered after him, riding on her monsters. Three times so far, the monsters had gotten close enough to take a swipe at the wheels or the horse, but each time Gai had switched roles with his shadow clone and managed to beat them back. Whenever he touched the creatures, however, he'd noticed a drain in his chakra, and he knew the chase was soon coming to a close.

He was using the fight to learn about his opponent, since he didn't know who the commander was, or how this girl fought, he could only guess at her ninja rank. She was likely a Chunin, high or low he wasn't sure, but her musical ability was rather good. He knew the others would be wrapping up soon, and he had to beat Kakashi to the punch, so he made sure that he took the right turns on the road which had the group going in circles, so that they were likely only a mile away from the others.

He couldn't keep this up much longer, the shadow clone was beginning to wear down on him, as was keeping Geri and Tatiana from panicking as well as guiding the horse, he needed to find away to end this chase as fast as possible.

* * *

Sakon and Ukon finally approached the 'three' genin at the side of the road, a quarter of a mile away from where Jirobo was fighting, so that they couldn't see what was going on in the other fight, but the two brothers didn't care.

"You three ready to submit to your fate?" Ukon asked, moving his head so that the upper half of his body was protruding from his twin's back, so that he could see their opponents.

"But, that would be disappointing," Sakon pouted, "how about a show before you go to Shinigami?"

Amaya shivered, and stood behind Sakura, afraid, and showing it, but she pulled out one of the kunai and held it in front of herself bravely. "We're not afraid of you!" Amaya said, her voice strong although her lips were quivering.

"We're ninja of the Leaf, one of the top three Shinobi villages, so if you think your little village that I've never even heard of can beat us, and then you need medical attention." Shikamaru said lazily. He was kneeling down, making a singly hand sign, but somehow covering it up in his bodies shadow so it just looked as if he had double over in pain, and the small nicks he'd made on his face and arm implied he'd been injured during the cart accident.

"Hey, there's the girl!" Ukon said, pointing to Sakura, "Let's get her now and get this over with!"

"No, let's have some fun!" Sakon protested. He quickly made several hand signs, and he mumbled the name of a jutsu no one had ever heard of, but the ground underneath Sakura began to glow.

"Sakura, Amaya, run!" Shikamaru yelled.

* * *

Kidomaru shot out his webs, encompassing the clearing in a sort of tent, creating a giant, light oppressive cage. He pulled his hostage closer to himself, shoving her against his back where she stuck due to the still damp nature of the webbing trapping her.

Kakashi backed up until he was at the edge of the clearing. He pulled out a kunai and tested it against the webbing. The kunai stuck to it, and despite trying to pull it out with an abundance of strength, the copy ninja couldn't free the kunai. He realized that the webbing was extremely strong, and he had to avoid it at all costs. Apparently, this was the spider-ninja's tricks, and he would not be able to copy and techniques from him.

Grinning, Kidomaru spat into his hand, a long trail of yellow spit connecting the two. This webbing instantly hardened, and became a sort of strong, impromptu sword. "Ha! Let's play!" The spider-ninja yelled.

Kakashi eye-smiled. He quickly formed a few hand-seals, and pressed his hand against the ground.

Thinking the Jonin was going to use a summoning technique, Kidomaru backed up, holding his arms in front of himself and creating a webbing shield.

Underground, using his chakra to move himself, Kakashi exploded out of the ground behind the spider-ninja. Kidomaru didn't have time to react, and the copy-ninja grabbed the spider-ninja's arms, slamming them onto the ground behind his back.

A loud, cringing crack echoed through the clearing, and Kidomaru cried out in pain.

Kakashi, knowing the spider-ninja was distracted due to his broken arms, quickly formed his lightning blade technique, and like he expected, his hand sliced through the webbing easily, and he managed to free Ino, who gratefully clung to his side.

Kidomaru collapsed on the ground, panting in pain.

"Well, that is what you get when you fight a Jonin." Kakashi lectured absent mindedly.

The spider-ninja cried out in pain, his arms hanging uselessly at his sides.

"There were others, weren't there sensei?" Ino asked, still shaken from the experience.

The Jonin nodded, "Can you perform your clan's body-switch jutsu?" He asked.

"No!" Kidomaru cried out, lunging at them.

It was too late, with a smirk; Ino formed the hand seals to take over his body.

* * *

Gai balanced the reins in one hand and a kunai in the other. He shouted out to Geri and Tatiana to hold onto the cart and his shadow clone.

"W…what are y…you doing?!" Geri cried out in panic.

Gai grinned. "Don't worry!" He said, giving the two a thumbs-up. "To youth!" He said, he brought a kunai down on the reins, setting the horse free.

The cart ambled along, dangerously fast, for a while, out of control when Gai jumped off, but he switched places with his shadow clone and Gai was confident that the clone would be able to get Geri and Tatiana out of the cart before it crashed. Gai jumped to the ground, stopping in the middle of the road, making a taijutsu stance as he stood in front of the three thundering monsters.

Tayuya, in surprise, played a sour note and the monsters froze without direction. "Go, Doki!" Tayuya called out to the monsters.

The monsters obeyed her, jumping after Gai. When the taijutsu leader tried to punch the monsters, they clung to the parts where they touched, and began to suck out his chakra.

"Ha!" Tayuya called out. "My monsters are sucking away your chakra, you won't be able to fucking run away anymore!"

Gai grinned at her, and Tayuya blinked rapidly when a light as powerful as the sun nearly blinded her. "It does not matter!" Gai cried, "I can defeat anyone with taijutsu alone! I will inspire my youthful student, Lee!"

"Not likely!" Tayuya growled, bringing her flute up to her mouth.

Suddenly, her flute was gone. Tayuya stared in surprise and her empty hands, and couldn't speak. Gai grinned at her, bringing the flute up to his knee and snapping it in half, instantly dispelling the monsters.

"So… so easy…?" Tayuya wondered.

"I am a Jonin." Gai explained.

"Fuck." Tayuya replied.

* * *

Shikamaru, Sakura, and Amaya were dripping wet, steaming from burns, covered in tiny nicks and cuts, and panting to regain as much oxygen as they could.

"Damn it!" Shikamaru panted, "What is with this guy?" He hadn't yet fallen into Shikamaru's trap, he was too busy showing off with flashy jutsu that the ninja could easily dodge for the most part, like this was some kind of twisted theater and the genin were the audience.

"_We_," Sakon corrected, "are the leaders of the Sound Four, you cannot hope to defeat us."

"I thought I saw three others with you." Amaya noted.

Ukon nodded. "Yeah." He confirmed.

"But then… if you guys are two people, then you're the Sound _Five _aren't you?" She asked.

"We were only the Sound Five once, when the _other_ leader was in charge… but… he… wait a moment… I recognize you." Sakon began, but then slowed down. "You're…" He stared curiously at Amaya.

"I already told you!" Ukon sighed, exasperated. "I told you at the beginning and you didn't even care! You're too busy showing off with stupid jutsu that use up all of our chakra!" He scolded.

"Oh!" Sakon looked from Sakura to Amaya, realization crossing his face. "_You're _the target," He pointed to Amaya, "and you're the other kunoichi!" He pointed then to Sakura.

"Oh, no!" Amaya cried out, backing up in terror.

Shikamaru grinned. "Shadow Possession Jutsu, achieved."

Sakon started, staring at a long shadow connecting him to the other Shinobi. "What is this?!" He cried out.

"While you were busy dealing with the girls, I caught you in my Shadow Possession Jutsu." Shikamaru explained. "So now you're under my control."

Sakon laughed. "Am I?" He asked.

The giant lump on his back jumped off, becoming another person, lithe and grinning wickedly. "Been a while since I've gone solo!" Ukon cried out. He dashed toward Amaya, catching her in his arms, holding a kunai to her throat.

"No!" Shikamaru cried out in fake distress, continuing to use his Shadow Possession Jutsu.

"Gotcha, girlie." Ukon whispered in Amaya's ear.

Amaya grinned. "One problem." She said, "I'm not your target!" She was engulfed in smoke, becoming a certain pink-haired kunochi. In Ukon's shock, he slackened his grip, and Sakura was able, with a quick jab to the Sound ninja's gut, to break free. Recovering quickly from his surprise, Ukon began to run back at her, when he looked at himself.

He was covered from head to foot in exploding tags.

However, right before the tags went off, Shikamaru could swear he saw the Sound ninja smiling.

* * *

Jirobo was holding Sasuke in a chocking grip, one hand on his neck and the other covering the Uchiha's eyes. "With just a slight twist of my wrist," Jirobo warned, "I can snap your neck, _Uchiha_. Your precious little eyes and your sneaky fire jutsu aren't going to help you now." Jirobo shook him violently, and Sasuke let out a strangled cry.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack and the earth began to shake. A fear settled over the clearing, silencing any animals or wind, and the Sound ninja found himself cringing in apprehension. He tried to shake of the feeling, and he tightened his grip on Sasuke as he moved to regain his footing.

The blue chakra which had previously been flowing from the rock prison to Jirobo seemed to shudder as one entity. It surged to all sides around them instantly, becoming a blue tinted fog surrounding the Sound ninja and his hostage.

A figure appeared, at what seemed to be a great distance away, and Jirobo saw what appeared to be an ethereal fox running toward him, its claws outstretched.

* * *

Ukon exploded with a flurry of raining blood and fireworks.

Sakon smirked as he saw what appeared to be his brother's demise.

Shikamaru noted that whatever the two had up their sleeves, they weren't very subtle about it. Sakura must have caught on, because she didn't say a word, and neither did Amaya, for which Shikamaru was grateful. It was, unfortunately, very difficult to tell who was who, because Amaya was still under the genjutsu that had her look like Sakura.

The genin took a deep breath, looking around the clearing for something, since it did not feel like the battle was over at all, although it appeared to be, since Ukon was dead and Sakon paralyzed.

The genjutsu Amaya was wearing dispelled.

Immediately, Shikamaru knew something was wrong, and he signaled that to Sakura, who undoubtedly had caught on as well. Shikamaru'd placed the genjutsu on Amaya, so he know that only he would have been able to take it off… unless, since the genjutsu he'd used followed the same rules as bunshin, Amaya had gotten hurt.

He thought this even as the smoke had yet to clear, and when it did it was only then that he could take in Amaya's terrified expression.

"Amaya?" Shikamaru asked, unable to take his hands out of the handseal that was holding Sakon in place.

Amaya tried to scream, but the pattern of a hand swelled up on her face and it forced her mouth shut.

Like a parasite, Ukon had attached himself to the target, and his body had fused with hers.

Sakura screamed, and Sakon laughed at them all.

Ukon smiled along with his brother. "Looks like you underestimated your opponent." He told them. "I can fuse my body, not just with my twin brother, but also with anyone I please. When you put the exploding tags on me, all I had to do was slice off an arm to fake my death, and while all of your were standing there like idiots, I snuck up behind the target and grabbed her. Besides," one of Amaya's arms lifted, and the second head that was now jutting out of her chin examined it, "I can always take one of hers to replace my old arm."

The Sound ninja held a kunai up to Amaya's heart. And, ignoring Amaya's frantic whimpering he screamed in glee, "Mission complete!" before he was knocked unconscious by a green blur.

* * *

Killer intent, the likes of which Jirobo had never even imagined before, filled the clearing. The sparse pieces of which that reached Sasuke were so frightening that the Uchiha's heart skipped a few beats.

The ethereal fox disappeared silently, and Jirobo knew there was something wrong.

A red claw surged up from behind the Sound ninja, hanging over his head for a moment. Jirobo looked up and saw the long, wicked curve of the nails twitching with bloodlust, and he couldn't say a word. The claw fell down and clamped itself over Jirobo's head.

The Sound ninja dropped Sasuke, his hands reaching up to his head, his mouth open in a wordless scream that the Uchiha could see due to the transparent nature of the thing that was holding onto him.

The Uchiha dropped to the ground, lying flat against it, holding his arms up so that they protected his head.

After a long moment of silence, where nothing seemed to go on except for the tiny shifting of the blue fog that Sasuke could see threw the slits of his eyes, Sasuke looked up.

Jirobo was hanging by his head, yards above the ground, blood pouring off of him, seeping into his uniform. Looking up at the figure, fury in her features, Naruto stood.

Her braid was whipping around her, her eyes a bright, gleaming red. Her nails were two inches long and sharp, the strange marks on her cheeks deeper and vicious, and her entire body was glowing with the same red that was encompassing the Sound ninja's head.

"Naruto…?" Sasuke whispered. _Stop this, Naruto…_

They connected eyed.

Sasuke's right eye whirled with sudden activity, three tomoes appearing out of nowhere, spinning the moment they connected with Naruto's slitted reds.

The expression on Naruto's face changed from a terrible fury to impassiveness, and she stumbled toward Sasuke as if hypnotized.

Her eyes blinked several times before they changed back to her regular blue, and all the other changed on her body disappeared as well. Naruto fell to the ground in front of Sasuke, the fog, the killer intent, and the red light faded the moment she fell into nothing, the Sound ninja falling to the ground with a loud flop.

Sasuke ran over to her side and turned her over. He slapped her gently on her face, trying to wake her up. "Naruto? Naruto?!" He cried out in panic.

"Figures she'd pull a stunt like that."

Sasuke stared at the giant figure who was standing in front of them, bleeding profusely out of his head, with a giant while pole coming out of his neck that looked like a bone.

"Guess she likes you, huh?" Jirobo said. He was in shock, he couldn't feel any pain.

Sasuke could see Jirobo's teeth from a side in his jaw.

"Luck boy," Jirobo grinned wickedly, "with those eyes of yours she's like a pet, huh? A mini-monster at your beck and call."

"Naruto is not a monster!" Sasuke shouted, lunging out with a kunai.

Jirobo laughed, and he collapsed, unconscious from blood loss, before Sasuke could even get close to him.

Sasuke fropped the kunai, staring for a long moment at the enemy before heading to Naruto's side. He wrapped her up in his arms, kissed her forehead tenderly, and listened carefully to her very faint heartbeat.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi people! I have about a hundred Story Alerts! Now I **_**really **_**feel obliged to continue to write, so… sorry Mr. Smith, my history report is late because… (cough, cough) I was in the nurse's office all period with a stomach ache… (cough)**

**Review!**

* * *

Choji ran back to where the others were after he managed to calm Chuuju and get the young boy to stay put.

He stumbled on the remains of Sasuke, Naruto, and Jirobo's battlefield. The first thing he saw was the Sound ninja, he tripped over his unconscious body, and when Choji looked at him he blanched at the sight. Covering up his repulsion, the Akimichi pressed his fingers on the Sound ninja's wrists and found that the enemy was still breathing.

He looked around the clearing, and he saw Sasuke and Naruto, or really the pitiful figure of Sasuke hunched over the unconscious Naruto.

Standing up, Choji carefully walked over to the other two genin, and he knelt down next to Sasuke, placing a comforting hand on the Uchiha's shoulder that he immediately shrugged off.

"How is Naruto?" Choji asked, fearing the worst.

Sasuke looked up, his eyes were red, but not due to the Sharingan, but from unshed tears. "She's okay." He said in a small voice, "She's not hurt… her hearts beating."

"That's good." Choji said slowly. Something clicked in his head, "Sasuke, you like Naruto?"

Sasuke glared at him, his Sharingan activating because he couldn't control it yet. Choji backed away, slightly stunned as he gazed into the red orbs.

The Uchiha dropped his gaze, and cradled Naruto closer to him protectively, glancing over at their fallen enemy. "Where are the others?" He asked.

"I don't know, I only saw you guys. I don't hear anything though, earlier I could hear lots of fighting." Choji informed him.

"Well, you certainly did a good job on this one." Said Kakashi, kneeling over the fallen body of the Sound ninja. He made a few hand seals and ropes appeared, wrapping around the body as a precaution.

"Ah!" Choji yelled, pointing at the spider-ninja who was standing next to Kakashi, holding Ino's unconscious body. "Human Bould-" Choji began to say, making several hand signs, but Kakashi stopped him.

"Sheesh! What were you trying to do?" Ino cried out from inside Kidomaru's body.

Choji blushed. "I thought you were an enemy and…" He grew flustered, "Well, _of course _I'm going to think you're an enemy! Why didn't you warn me or something?"

Ino/Kidomaru snorted. "It's not like it's all easy for me, despite these splints Kakashi made I'm still hurting!" She pointed at two of her arms that were hanging stiffly at her sides.

Choji and Ino/Kidomaru continued to argue while Kakashi made his way over to Sasuke.

The copy-ninja put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, sitting next to him. "Are you injured?" He asked.

Sasuke looked up, Sharingan still activated, and then he looked back down at Naruto. "Just a couple bruises." He mumbled.

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Well, you two did extremely well!" He complimented. "May I see Naruto?"

"She's right here, just look at her." Sasuke replied angrily.

"That's not what I meant, Sasuke-kun, and you know it." Kakashi growled. Sasuke sighed, and loosened his grip on the orange-clad ninja, allowing Kakashi the room to look her over. The copy-ninja made a hand sign, and then his hand began to glow a light blue. "Did anything happen?" Kakashi asked immediately after his blue hand passed over Naruto's stomach.

"I…" Sasuke remembered. "I fought, but… I couldn't beat him, and he had Naruto in some kind of prison. Then… there was this blue fog, Naruto was glowing red, she looked strange, and then… some sort of claw… I looked at her, and she looked at me, and she fainted."

Kakashi nodded seriously.

There was a long, quiet moment where the only noise hear was the faint 'hurr' of Kakashi's blue hand and the argument between Ino/Kidomaru and Choji.

"Chakra exhaustion." Kakashi said suddenly.

"What?" Sasuke stared at him in surprise.

"It's just chakra exhaustion, she'll wake up some time tonight or tomorrow none-the-worse-for-the-wear." He smiled at Sasuke. "Now, I think I will be carrying her to the cart, which despite being extremely battered, is in working condition, and we'll set her down right next to Shikamaru-san, who's also unconscious from chakra exhaustion. Then I'll assign you to watch over the two of them, how does that sound?"

Speechless, Sasuke merely nodded in agreement.

"Good!" Kakashi said, clapping and standing up. "Choji-san!" He called out, ending the argument. "You should go get the boy and bring him over here."

Choji nodded.

"Ino-san!" Kakashi ordered, "I'm going to tie up that body you're currently in, then you need to release the jutsu before I knock you out, can you handle that?"

"Of course." Ino/Kidomaru said, smiling for a moment before it faded once she saw the battered Sasuke holding the other blonde girl. "Sasuke-kun!" She cried out, running to his side.

"Please…" Sasuke said quietly, whispering something Ino couldn't hear.

"Please what?" Ino/Kidomaru asked.

Sasuke glared at her, his Sharingan finally deactivated. "Please don't fawn over me, _especially _in that body! It's just… disturbing." He growled.

Ino/Kidomaru blushed.

* * *

Naruto blinked, slowly coming back to consciousness. Her head hurt more than she ever thought possible and her vision was blurred. She reached up with her hand to try to reach the light by her bed, but her hand groped air. Someone grabbed her hand and set it back down on the bed.

There was a gentle 'shush' as someone lowered her back into bed, large, warm arms encompassing her. Gentle hairs tickled her chin, the light shine of morning illuminated the tiny room, and Naruto was barely awake. A warm cloth covered her, and she was undeniably comfortable. Lips lightly brushed against her head…

And Naruto was instantly terrified. She jumped away, trying to hit whoever it was next to her in the stomach but they grabbed her hand.

"Naruto?" The person called out.

Naruto recognized the voice, and her heartbeat slowed only slightly. She pulled herself away from Sasuke, silently cursing herself and him.

With her eyes now fully open, she could see where she was. They were in the larger tent again. She was lying down in what appeared to be two sleeping bags, one over the other, and she was still wearing her ninja uniform. There was another person apparently sleeping next to her, his breath labored, but Sasuke was ignoring him. He was sitting next to her, apparently having been watching over her for a long time.

"Wh…" Naruto stuttered before screaming, "Why the hell did you just kiss me?"

Sasuke glared at her. "I was making sure you were all right."

"Riiight. Because every medic ninja knows about the Kiss-of-Life." Naruto rolled her eyes.

"Hn." Sasuke said, folding his arms and leaning back against the wall of the tent.

There was a long, awkward silence while Naruto attempted to calm her rapidly beating heart and while Sasuke attempted to get rid of a slowly forming blush on his face.

Eventually, Naruto had to ask, "Where are we? What happened?"

"What do you last remember?" Sasuke asked her.

"The last I…" Naruto trailed off. She could remember being trapped, doing everything she could to try and get out but it didn't work. And then she heard a cry of agony… Sasuke's. And she got angry. Fire encompassed her vision, and she heard a whisper in the back of her head that she couldn't quite make out. The next thing she remembered was an oppressive hatred surrounding her, and this strange satisfaction she got from hearing the crunching bones of her enemy and smelling his blood. Then she remembered seeing Sharingan eyes and… "…I remember being in a prison made of stone, and losing my chakra… and I fainted." Naruto lied.

Sasuke stared at her, lifting an eyebrow. "That's _all_?" He asked.

"Yes." Naruto lied, "Why? Did something bad happen?" Her eyes were wide, and she was obviously frightened, Naruto was wondering whether or not she had hurt anyone else, but Sasuke interpreted it differently.

Sasuke sighed, "Well, here's what happened. The prison exploded, you were covered in some sort of fire, you distracted the enemy enough for me to get him, then you looked at me and fainted." He lied to her, not being able to bring himself to tell her that she had killed the enemy in that gruesome way.

She blinked a few times, realizing he was lying for her, but she didn't mention it. "Who's that?" She asked, pointing to the person sleeping next to her.

"Shikamaru." Sasuke answered. "He's suffering from chakra exhaustion. He hasn't woken up yet."

"Is he alright?" Naruto asked, worried.

"Yes." He informed her. "He'll be fine."

"Oh, okay." Naruto said. She stared at her feet awkwardly, and Sasuke was similarly feeling the growing tension in the tent.

"Do you want water?" Sasuke asked quickly.

"Sure." Naruto said.

"I'll get it." Sasuke jumped up and left the room in a rush.

The moment he left, the awkwardness was also gone, and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. She lay back in the sleeping bags, relaxed.

Naruto touched her forehead gently, and didn't fight a rising blush on her face.

* * *

"Sasuke."

The Uchiha boy looked up from the stream where he'd been filling, emptying, refilling, re-emptying, refilling, re-emptying, and refilling a canteen. "Kakashi-sensei." He said, greeting his teacher.

The copy-ninja was leaning against a tree on the other side of the stream, holding a very obvious orange book and pretending to read it. "I assume Naruto is awake." He said.

"Yes." Sasuke replied, re-emptying the canteen again.

"Can't find the right water?" Kakashi asked, smiling or smirking. It was hard to tell which one, since he had a mask over nearly all of his face and his eye made the same upside-down 'U' shape for both expressions.

Sasuke glared at him, and screwed the top on the canteen, deciding to walk away, back toward the tent.

"Sasuke." Kakashi said again.

The Uchiha turned, his angry expression softening as he saw the dead-serious look his sensei had on his face. "Yes?" Sasuke asked.

"You can ask her, but if she doesn't want to explain than you need to leave it there. Don't pressure her into telling you anything. If she doesn't want to tell you now, then she will eventually, but she needs to do it on her own terms." Kakashi said.

Confused, Sasuke nodded.

* * *

Sasuke entered the tent, lifting up the flap to allow himself and sparse sunlight into the room.

Naruto lifted her hand to block out the sunlight, her eyes not yet adjusted. "Hello Sasuke-kun." Naruto said awkwardly.

"Hello, Naruto-chan." Sasuke said. He handed her the canteen, and even though she wasn't particularly thirsty she uncapped it and brought it to her lips anyways. "Sorry I kissed you on your forehead when you were sleeping." Sasuke mumbled.

"Forgiven." Naruto smirked at him. "Just don't do it again."

The Uchiha glared at her. "Why not?" He asked.

Taken aback, Naruto stuttered, "B… because…"

Sasuke leaned toward her, purposely flashing his Sharingan eyes for a moment, making sure their faces were inches apart. "Don't you like me?" He asked, his hot breath tickling her chin.

Naruto squirmed under him, and pushed her back up against the tent wall to give herself more space. "No, I… I _like _you. But I don't think I like you… like that…" She stuttered.

Sasuke, surprisingly, merely drew back and smiled. He didn't smirk, he actually smiled. "I promise to change your mind." He stated.

"Wh… What?" Naruto shouted, bewildered.

"I said, 'I promise to change your mind'. I don't care how long it takes. I am going to court you, Naruto Uzumaki." Sasuke said.

Her jaw dropped, and she merely stared at him in confusion for a moment before shaking her head to clear it. "Wh… what do you mean… 'courting'?"

Sasuke said, "It means I am going to win you over. As in, date you, but not officially."

"We are _not _dating."

"I just said we weren't."

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Naruto shouted.

He stared at her for a moment, before sighed and leaning back on his knees. "I don't know." He confessed. "I could have any girl in Konoha, any age, rank, bloodline… but you're the only one I've ever felt anything for." Sasuke stared at her for a moment. "Even if you have some strange secret."

"Oh." Naruto said simply, avoiding his gaze and drawing her knees to her stomach so she could wrap her arms around them.

Sasuke studied her, allowing her a pause, before asking, "So, what is your secret? What was that strange fire?"

"Chakra." Naruto said.

"Chakra is blue." Sasuke reminded her.

"Not all chakra."

Sasuke blinked. "And, you just have a different kind of chakra than most people?"

"No." Naruto said, then, "well… yes. But only nine ever… I didn't mean to…" She looked him in the eyes, nervous. "I've never really told anyone my age. And I only found out myself just a month ago, and I… I don't think I can…"

"Then don't." Sasuke said sharply. "If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. I doubt after only five days of being on a team with someone that we know each other that well, so take you time."

"Really? Aren't you curious?" Naruto asked, surprised at his reaction.

"Definitely." Sasuke admitted. "I'm incredibly curious, but Kakashi-sensei warned me beforehand not to pressure you, and I don't want to do anything that might hinder our courtship."

"Stop saying that!" Naruto growled, indignant. "Ino and Sakura will kill me!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to let those crazy fangirls hurt you just because I have a crush on you. Besides, you've made it perfectly clear you don't have feelings for me."

"Sasuke…" Naruto said softly.

The Uchiha faked a cough, standing up. "Enjoy your water, if you need anything I'll be outside." He said sharply, standing up.

"Wait… I…" Naruto tried to protest.

Sasuke paused at the flap of the tent, turned back, and said, "You should rest. You're probably still tired." Then he left, creating and disappearing with a sudden burst of sunshine.

Naruto stared where he'd left in shock, and without meaning to her hand rose to her lips, where she imagined she could still feel the pressure from their accidental-kiss.

"Wow… that was almost better than clouds. A bit awkward though." Shikamaru said.

"You!" Naruto yelled, and she threw her uncapped canteen at the lazy ninja, spraying them both.

* * *

"How'd it go?" Kakashi asked the moment Sasuke left the tent.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes, and didn't even look at him. "She didn't tell me, I didn't pressure her." He responded.

"So… what was the yelling about?" The copy-ninja asked curiously.

"Nothing." Sasuke said, a small blush adorning his cheeks. The Uchiha, noticing that Kakashi was there, left to go help the rest of the genin gather up the luggage that had been tossed along the road during a cart-chase. The ninja behind the need for a recovery mission was currently guarding four/five-ish enemy ninja who were sealed, tied to separate trees, and unconscious.

* * *

It didn't take long for the ninja's to regather. Kakashi summoned a sort of dog, and, being confident the complicated seal he had placed on the enemy ninja's held, sent it to the Hokage to inform him that they had prisoners, and the Hokage would surely send out some kind of team to take the enemy ninja back to Konoha for interrogation.

Settling back into a sort of formation, the genin were far more alert than they had been at the beginning of the mission, even though there was far less danger now, considering the enemies ninja had been defeated.

Naruto, who looked sort of dazed, was sitting on the cart next to Amaya.

Chuuju had resumed his position next to Sasuke, asking him numerous questions about his and Naruto's battle, since he'd forced stories out of everyone else, but the Uchiha was completely ignoring him. Ino and Sakura were also walking next to Sasuke, but they weren't half as chatty as they'd been before, and at any small noise they pulled out their kunai and shuriken.

Shikamaru was asleep, not from tiredness brought on by chakra exhaustion, but because he was bored.

Choji was eating chips, sitting on the front of the cart, squashed between Gai and Tatiana, who had forced him to go there since she was nervous about being attacked so she wanted to be near Gai, who had saved them, but since the Konoha Jonin also creeped her out she forced Choji to be a human shield.

Kakashi was walking along the wheels of the cart, reading his porn, and Geri was walking next to him, for no particular reason at all.

It was in this fashion that they finally arrived at the small, non-ninja village of Famu, where the merchant resided.

There was no fanfare, and no one waiting for them. A few farms were set up along the hill that were growing mostly rice and a few other plants, and scarce people were tending them. Those that were didn't even give the ninja a glance. The only direction they had was Geri's, since he'd apparently been to the house before on business trips, so they allowed the potbellied man to tell them where they were going until he got lost, and then Gai-sensei drove them to the clearly visible mansion at the top of a hill.

There was no gate, so Gai drove the cart up to the front of the mansion, and Kakashi knocked on the door.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Kakashi asked, continuing to knock obnoxiously, since he was extremely bored.

Eventually, when no one answered, he began to play drums on the door, doing a congo like jig as he waited, tap tap, tappity tap tap, tap, tap, tappity tappity, tap, tap….

"I'm COMING! GRAGH!" Screamed someone. The door opened a crack, and a wizened old man looked out, narrowing his eyes at the travelers. "What do you want?" He asked.

"I'm here to see the merchant, Suzoki." Geri announced.

"He had a heart attack." The old man said, shutting the door in their face.

Stunned, the ninja didn't say a word, and Kakashi went back to pounding on the door.

"What?" The old man asked, opening the door again.

"I'm sorry, is the merchant dead, because we were hired to escort these people to his presence. Wasn't he getting married?" Kakashi asked politely.

The old man glared at them. "Yeah, ol' Suzoki is dead."

"Aren't you a bit old to be calling someone 'old'?" Naruto couldn't help blurting out.

"And how old do you think I am, ya little missy?" The old man spat on the floor.

Naruto thought for a moment before opening her mouth, but Kakashi interrupted her, saying, "Naruto, please don't answer that."

_I was just gunna say a hundred and twelve. _Naruto thought angrily. _He looks like it anyways. Crazy old man._

"Well, the ol' man's dead," said the old man, "but his kid's still 'round. Dukio, an' that's the one we said you'll be marrying, right?" He asked Geri.

"Oh," Geri said, "uh, of course."

Noticing the man's hesitation, the old man burst into giggles. "You…" he wheezed, "you didn't think you were marrying the ol' man didcha?"

Geri and Tatiana didn't say anything, while Amaya just looked relieved.

"Ha!" The old man cackled. "The ol' master was forty years old!"

Now, everyone stared at the old man. Forty year old was not that much, so how old was this wizened old man in front of them? The old man didn't acknowledge their bewildered expressions, and he merely opened the door wider and invited them inside.

The ninja jumped off of the cart, but Gai stayed, unsure what to do about the horse. The wizened old man came up to him, however, and took the reins. He called to the ninja to sit in the parlor while he gave the horse to the stable hands, and not to touch anything.

Naruto entered the house. Immediately, her jaw dropped. There was a long spiral staircase running along the entire back of the house, doors were everywhere, a giant chandelier hung from the ceiling, and it was lit. Someone must have decided that couches were old fashioned, because there were only a couple place-mats on the floor, but they were made of silk, and when Naruto sat down on them she discovered that they were far softer than any pillow she had ever slept on. "This is bigger than my apartment building." Naruto said.

_Not very impressive. _Sasuke thought, although he was extremely impressed.

Shikamaru grabbed a couple of the placemats, made a mock bed, and lay down on it, before Ino dragged him to hid feet by the ear and forced him to sit down on one properly. Choji sat down right next to Naruto, and offered her a few chips, which she accepted, much to Sasuke's chagrin. Sakura just lay down on the floor, her feet exhausted from walking so long, and she didn't care admitting that she was slightly out of shape. Kakashi just leaned against one of the doors, took out his little orange book, and began to read, giggling softly.

Gai made sure that Geri, Tatiana, Amaya, and Chuuju were comfortable, with the largest placemats, before he turned to Sasuke, and whispered something in his ear.

Sasuke, in turn, whispered it to Naruto and then Sakura, since they were the closest to him. "Gai-sensei says to be on the watch."

Naruto nodded, and turned to Choji. "Sasuke-kun say's Gai-sensei says to eat fried watch.

Choji turned to Shikamaru and whispered, "Naruto-chan say's that Sasuke-san said that Gai-sensei said to eat fried blotch."

Shikamaru shrugged, and turned to Ino, then whispered. "Choji-kun said that Naruto-chan said that Sasuke-san said that Gai-sensei said to dee plied plotch."

"What?" Ino exclaimed. Shikamaru just shrugged. Ino stared at Gai-sensei, "Why to we have to read Tai-twatch?"

"What?" Gai asked.

"But, Shikamaru-kun said that Choji-kun said that Pudgy-chan said that Sasuke-kun said that you said we have to read Tai-twatch." Ino informed him.

Sasuke stared at Naruto.

"What?" Naruto asked, "Does anyone have a Q-tip? I think I've got water in my ear from when Shikamaru threw his canteen at me."

"_You _threw the canteen at me!" Shikamaru argued.

"Riiiight." Naruto rolled her eyes.

The old man, at that time, walked back into the room, and instantly, seeing Kakashi, grabbed his heart and began to hyperventilate. "No, you, how, I, uh, no, I…" He stuttered.

Kakashi stopped leaning against one of the many doors on the wall. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"That's a fifteen thousand ryo painting of a door!" The old man screamed.

Kakashi stared at the door, that he now realized was slightly smudged from his presence. "Who paints a door?" He asked.

"Ah! Ninja!" The old man exclaimed, exasperated.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked indignantly.

"Never you mind, girlie." The old man said, wagging his finger at the orange-clad ninja.

Naruto pouted, and she twisted her long braid around her finger angrily, glaring at the old man. Suddenly, revenge came to mind, and she blurted out, "A hundred and twelve!"

"Huh?" The old man, Geri, Tatiana, Ino, Sakura, and Chuuju all said at once in a case of six-times Jinx.

"That's how old you are! A hundred and twelve!" Naruto exclaimed.

The old man glared at her. "I'm thirty-seven." He informed her.

"That's a lie." Naruto said blatantly.

"No, it's not." The old man said.

"He lies." Naruto informed Sasuke, looking at her braid and pointedly ignoring the old man.

"I'm thirty-seven!" The old man protested.

"He's a liar."

"I tell the truth!"

"He's a sad, lying old hundred and twelve year old."

"I'm THIRTY-SEVEN!"

"….liar."

"ARGH!"

* * *

After the first incident, the ninja got along a bit better with the gate keeper once Ino had punched Naruto in the face, even though Sasuke then punched Ino, which caused the pale-eyed blonde to, for some reason only understood by fangirls, try to kill Sakura. They were all broken up by a cry of "Youthful children, do not fight and lose your spirits of duty!" which sufficiently creeped them out enough that they treaded warily around the taijutsu master for nearly an entire hour afterward.

The old man led them into a room that was slightly more comfortable, and it seemed to be a sort of parlor. Tea was set on a table, and a few maids were waiting by it, ready to serve. Geri and Tatiana immediately plopped down on a couch, but since there were only two left, only Amaya, Chuuju, Ino, Sakura, and Gai sat down on the others.

"You _can't _be thirty-seven." Naruto told the old man.

"I am!" The old man protested.

"No!" Naruto shook her head, "How many years have you been thirty-seven?"

"He's been insisting he's thirty-seven for longer than I've been alive." Someone said.

A person had just entered the room. He had long brown hair, tied up in an exquisite ponytail, he was wearing a black suit, most likely for mourning. He was extraordinarily handsome, and Amaya, Tatiana, Ino, Sakura, and even Naruto gaped at him, although Naruto recovered rather quickly. Sasuke noticed though, and he frowned, and glared at the newcomer.

"Hello," the extraordinarily handsome man said. "My name is Romansu, which one of you beautiful ladies is my fiancé?" Romansu smiled broadly, and every girl in the room seemed to melt.

"I totally wish I was…" Ino and Sakura said at the exact same time, and they didn't even punch each other for that.

Romansu waited for a forthcoming answer, and for a long moment, his gaze lingered on Naruto, who stared back at him.

Sasuke coughed loudly, and pointed to Amaya.

Romansu turned to Amaya, walked over to her, and said, "I'm sorry for my attire, but we're still in mourning, and we will be for a month or two more. It rather stinks, I believe, since I did love my father, but it had been a long time already, and I'd rather move on." He laughed slightly.

Romansu knelt down before Amaya, and the beautiful girl stared at him in adoration. "Amaya…" He whispered. "I don't want you to marry me just because you have to, I want you to _want _this. I don't like the idea of you feeling pressured into this, and I think we should spend time getting to know each other. I'm sure your parents would not object to our marriage being delayed a month or two?"

Geri shook his head.

Naruto wondered what he was doing, and she looked around the room. All of the girls, even Tatiana, had shining eyes, and Ino was even crying a bit. Choji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke didn't seem affected, but Gai… Gai was crying his eyes out. Kakashi was reading, and the old man was completely indifferent.

"Oh, I do!" Amaya exclaimed.

The extraordinarily handsome man smiled widely. "I'm sure you'll love it here, Amaya! There are several other noble folk and we have balls nearly every week…" He stood up and took her hand, walking off with her while rattling on about music, dancing, and the beautiful sunrises in their mansion. The old man informed Kakashi that they were dismissed, and he followed the two now-lovers to supervise.

"Oh! How romantic!" Ino instantly exclaimed the moment they'd left.

_Romantic? _Naruto wondered.

"I _told you _this was a good idea, Geri!" Tatiana exclaimed, sighing, "A ball _every night_…"

"Ew." Chuuju said. Making sure his parents saw and heard him walk behind one of the couches. The moment their backs were turned be ducked out of the room, determined to follow his sister and kill the weird man who was supposed to be her husband.

"Well," Kakashi said, closing his book. "I guess we're done here."

"What a lame end to a mission." Choji said, sighing.

"That wasn't lame!" Sakura growled at him, then her expression changed and she sighed obviously at Sasuke. "That was beautiful." She said, obviously trapped in a strange fantasy where Sasuke was Romansu and she was Amaya.

Sasuke flinched at her gaze, and backed away.

* * *

_The Obituaries: Naruto Uzumaki, mother of Saru Uzumaki, died today after the completion of a mission due to an implosion of the eardrums. It would take quite a horror to make a jinchuuriki die in such a fashion, so you can only imagine the torture Naruto Uzumaki went through at the hands of her love-sick companions. This horrific murder will not be unpunished, the culprits, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno, shall have their livers removed, tongues cut out, eyes gouged out of their heads with a spoon…_

"Oh, wasn't it!" Ino sighed.

_There is a lot of sighing going on here. _Naruto noted. _I mean, and they shall receive fourty lashes each with a cat-o'-nine-tails… or a fox-o'-nine-tails due to the dual murder they received._

"The way he held her hand…" Ino remembered.

"The way she said 'I do'…" Sakura added.

"And how _handsome_…" They sighed together.

"So, are they paying with check or cash? When are we going to get the pay for this?" Kakashi asked Gai, who was still crying a bit. Gai noticed how stoic Kakashi was, and he cried out some nonsense about Kakashi being so hip and cool, not knowing he was increasing his own weirdness by saying 'hip and cool'.

"That guy was a dork." Naruto stated.

Everyone gaped at her.

"What?" Naruto shrugged. "He _was _a dork. Who gets down on their knees and does that anyway? He's creepier than Gai-sensei!"

"… You think I'm creepy?" Gai whined.

"I'm sorry, but you are." Naruto confessed.

"Oh." Gai said quietly, silent tears running down his cheeks.

"It's kinda weird." Choji said, deciding to change the topic.

"What is?" Naruto asked, afraid he was talking about how she didn't seem to fawn over this 'romance' like the two other female kunoichi.

"It's like, we spent three days or more with those guys and I was getting pretty close to the little one, Chuuju, but they're just gone, like that. Not even a goodbye, we just did our duty and we left." Choji clarified.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah." She concentrated on the path, keeping one foot ahead of the other. Returning home, their pace was a lot fast than it had been with the cart, and Kakashi had predicted that if they hurried, they would make it home sometime around one in the morning with time allowed for only one break. The copy-ninja promised the genin that he'd make sure their pay was mailed to their homes, and they could likely return straight home after they arrived, the reason for the rush was that Kakashi wanted to check up on the prisoners, to see when and how they'd arrived. The fact that they were wearing symbols from the Sound village, but had been hired by apparently wealthy people, disturbed the Jonin. The last he'd heard, the influence of Sound was not high, even though they were based somewhere near Rice, so he couldn't imagine why they'd been hired for a mission. Something wasn't right.

* * *

Naruto knew it would be stupid to get Saru before today, and she just wanted to go home and sleep in her actual bed, wearing her actual pajamas. The other genin were suffering from similar symptoms of homesickness, so they actually arrived at the village very close to Kakashi's prediction, at one-forty in the morning.

Naruto, however, was the only one close enough to their sensei to hear the hushed exchange between him and the guards at the gate.

"Did the prisoner's arrive yet?" Kakashi asked.

"What prisoners?" The guard at the gate asked.

The conversation didn't register with her until her head sank into the pillow. And her eyes widened when they did, and it took her a long moment to fall asleep.

Likely, those Sound ninja wouldn't be happy being defeated by genin. Especially the one she'd nearly killed.

Naruto's blue gaze shifted to an empty crib beside her bed, and she shivered in foreboding.


	8. Chapter 8

There was a collection of young children playing jump rope outside her window. There was the brilliant light from the noon sun dancing across her face. There was the loud ruckus of the everyday village life creating more than enough commotion to wake her up, and so she did.

Naruto tried to stay in bed so long that it was nearly painful, but eventually her hunger outweighed her exhaustion. She stood up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and was surprised to realize that she was still in her ninja outfit, and likely smelled terrible. To prove that, she brought her sleeve up to her nose and sniffed, then she gagged.

Now, the orange-clad genin was facing the interesting dilemma of whether or not she should eat or take a shower first. Then she heard giggling under her window.

A frown slid across her face as she remembered.

All of the other females had been _enamored _with Romansu, and while she did agree he was handsome, she just didn't understand how that was romantic. Then again, she didn't understand romance either. Was there something wrong with her? Was there some reason why she took the boys side?

It was far more thrilling, she remembered, to have Sasuke look her in the eyes and tell her plainly that he was going to court her whether she liked it or not, than it would be to have the Uchiha down on his knees, begging for her. Did she find pride attractive? Or…

Romance. Romance? What exactly was 'romance'? It was something a guy was expected to do before he asked a girl out, wasn't it? He was supposed to give the girl flowers and write her poems… except… the idea was repulsive to her. Of course, there was undoubtedly many things different from her and the other girls…

Mainly, the absence of the presence of the 'innocent factor' known as a 'virginity', which could otherwise be stated far less bluntly by saying that she was the_ only _rookie kunoichi with a crib in her room, and toddler's toys strews about her house.

Naruto sighed, lying back in the bed, trying to clear her head of all the oppressive thoughts.

Curious as she heard more giggling, Naruto sat up. She walked over to her window and slid the door open slightly, leaning her head out to hear what the giggling was about, a feat easily obtained since she was only on the third floor of her apartment building and she had very good hearing.

"…you hear Sasuke-kun is back from his mission?"

"I know! He's soooo gorgeous!"

_Now what does that have to do with anything? _Naruto wondered, leaning forward a bit more.

"I can't wait! I made him a card!"

_A card, why?_

"Me too! It must be sooo exciting to go on a mission outside of Konoha!"

_It was, actually. _

"Sasuke-kun is amazing, isn't he?"

"Yeah… future Lady Uchiha…"

"Lady Kinichi Uchiha…"

"No! Lady _Tamio _Uchiha!"

_Now they're fighting over him? _

"Argh! You're so annoying!"

"_You're _so annoying!"

_Brilliant comeback, girl number two. _Naruto rolled her eyes.

"You're fat!"

"Your mother is fat!"

"… We're sisters."

"So?"

"… hm… I'm gunna tell Mom you just called her fat!"

"No! Wait! I take it back!"

_Sisters? Then why were they fighting? Do they like him that much?_

As the girl scurried out of earshot, Naruto slid to her knees, setting her chin against the window frame and frowning. "Sasuke…?" She wondered. Then she shook her head with a firm resolve, and said in a fragile voice, "Saru."

* * *

She chose to shower first, and then eat. Saru wasn't there, so she didn't feel the urge to lead by example, so Naruto had ramen for breakfast. Compensating for that, she decided to take a walk, and she brought along an apple.

She didn't have many spare clothes for civilian wear, except one of her stupid, large, gray shirts and some old, slightly too tight white_ish_ shorts, but she decided to wear it anyway. Sick of the braid she normally wore, she decided to find a new way of wearing her hair, but her normal hair fell down to nearly the back of her ankles and she'd just cleaned it, so she settled on stuffing her large amount of hair into a ponytail, which ended up becoming pigtails when she found that she had too much hair.

Slightly satisfied with her appearance, ignoring the stains on the gray shirt, Naruto deemed herself ready, and went out for a long walk. She knew she could delay, for maybe an hour or two, picking up Saru. Naruto did miss him so much it hurt, but she was still groggy from the mission, as well as mentally plagued, and she could not handle greeting a three year old who would likely test positive for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Briefly, she wondered if she acted like this as a child, but she soon remembered that she did, and concluded Saru's behavior to genetics.

It was truly, a beautiful day.

Or, at least, she thought that until she stumbled onto Ino.

"Pudgy-chan!" Ino immediately cried out as Naruto blissfully walked past the pale-eyed girl's store. "Did someone tell you yet?"

_How is she this hyper? We just had a mission… What time is it? _The answers were soon forthcoming. The time, Naruto saw by looking at the bank right next to Ino's parent's store, which had the time on a display in the window, and it was currently two in the afternoon.

Ino, desperate to share gossip, ran eagerly up to Naruto. She flinched momentarily when she glanced at what Naruto was wearing, specifically the stain on her shirt, but the pale-eyed girl bypassed that information, crying, "Sasuke was in my shop earlier, when my mom was working, and he asked her about flowers! He didn't buy any, but he was definitely thinking about it!"

_Flowers? _Naruto wondered. _Who for? _Then she remembered, and her eyes widened. _Me._

"It's _so_ wonderful; Sasuke is _finally _starting to date girls! Do you think he came by my shop hoping to see me?" Ino squealed, and she hugged Naruto, apparently having decided that a mission and a juicy piece of gossip were enough to make the girl she had long ago tormented her best friend. "I just _wish_ I was on duty, but I only woke up three hours ago 'cause of the mission." Then she wailed out, "I feel so _stupid_!"

"Don't feel stupid," Naruto comforted her, taking a bite of her apple, "I juwst wowke up an hwour agow."

"Don't eat with your mouth full!" Ino yelled at her.

Naruto swallowed, then lifted an eyebrow. "How _else _am I supposed to eat?"

"I meant 'Don't _talk _with your mouthful'. Sheesh, conversation change BACK to Sasuke." Ino said, apparently switching their topic, and Naruto didn't argue. "Can you imagine _me _dating Sasuke?"

'_Oh, Sasuke, you're so wonderful.' _

'_Thanks. Can you pass the salt now?'_

'_Okay, I love you Sasuke.'_

'_Ino, you're my girlfriend and I like you, but will you please just give me the salt?'_

'_Okay, here you go.'_

'_Now let go.'_

'_You have the most handsome hands in the world.'_

'_Hn.'_

'_Don't you think we should hold hands more often?'_

'_Ino, I'm trying to have lunch.'_

'_I luuuv you.'_

'_I hate my life.'_

"Yes." Naruto said, wrapping up her little fantasy. "Yeah, I can see that." _And it terrifies me._

"Oh, you're such a great friend!" Ino cried, wrapping her arms around Naruto in a hug. Then she caught a whiff of Naruto's shirt, and she let go. "What are you wearing?" The pale-eyed girl asked, her nose turned up in disgust.

"Well, I put my ninja outfit in the washing machine, and I do have a spare, but I didn't feel like wearing it." Naruto explained.

"And you wore… that?" Ino asked condescendingly.

Naruto almost stuck out her tongue, but she instead opted for saying, "Yes," while thinking, _So? I wore this… but your 'Sasuke-kun' likes _me_! So, ha! _Although, once she thought it she instantly regretted it. She had already decided, in her head, to deter Sasuke from his apparent insanity, and she also didn't want to act like those fangirls did, obsessed with love and war thereof.

"Don't you have _anything_ else?" Ino asked, hands on her hips.

"I have a brown tank top… and blue shorts…" Naruto confessed.

"Why didn't you were that? Even that's better than those!"

Naruto glared at her. "I was just going for a walk, I don't exactly care anyway."

Ino rolled her eyes, "Right, then why'd you make your hair so pretty if you didn't care?"

"P… pretty?" Naruto wondered, reaching out to touch the parts of her hair that were hanging over her shoulders.

"Sure," Ino informed her, "Your hair is really cute, and now that you lost that weight, you don't have to wear all that baggy stuff anymore. Why don't you buy normal clothes?"

"But… I wouldn't wear the stuff anyway; I normally have things to do when we're not on missions…" Naruto said, _Because normally I have Saru, I'm just delaying picking him up today._

"Hey!" Ino said happily, snapping her fingers. "We should have a kunoichi sleepover! Me, you, and Hinata!"

"What about Sakura?" Naruto asked.

Ino pouted. "Yeah…" She added, "Billboard-brow too."

_Sleepover? Other people? They're actually inviting me to come over? _"I'll think about it." Naruto said, deciding that was the best 'maybe' response she could give.

"'K." Ino said. "And, since you're on Sasuke-kun's team, if you hear anything, tell me, promise?"

Naruto didn't say anything, but Ino didn't care, she had already left the other blonde-haired girl in favor of a gaggle of girls who were fellow members of the enormous organization known as Sasuke's Fan Club.

So, Naruto just continued her walk, took a bite of her apple, and concluded that she was perfectly fine with waiting to pursue the knowledge of the feminine race.

* * *

Naruto's walk took her right past a small lake near the Uchiha compound, and she saw someone sitting on the edge of a small dock, who was both the last and the first person she wanted to see. Sasuke looked up when he saw her walk by, and he smiled at her.

That alone was enough to make Naruto stare.

He then proceeded to pat a small piece of land right next to himself, indicating that he wanted her to join her.

Naruto debated for a long moment whether it would be better to just talk to him, or to walk away and enjoy the angry look on his face, but then she took another glance at his smile and she sighed. Unable to resist, she walked to the edge of the dock and sat next to him.

"Your hair's not in a braid today." Sasuke noted, trying to make conversation.

"Neither is yours."

Sasuke's eye twitched slightly and he bit down on his lip to keep from laughing. "Touche." He replied.

"Your fangirls are going crazy today." Naruto informed him. She lay back on the dock with a sigh, using her arms as a pillow so she could stare at the sky.

The Uchiha nodded. "I know. This is nothing compared to what would have happened if I'd actually _bought_ flowers."

"Why didn't you?" Naruto asked, sitting up slightly.

Sasuke shrugged. "They didn't have sunflowers."

Naruto's eyed widened, and she didn't say anything.

"I like your hair today, even in pigtails." Sasuke informed her.

Naruto reached up to tug on her golden locks. "Really? Ino told me that too when I saw her. What's wrong with a braid?"

"Nothing, I like your hair both ways. I'm just complimenting you." Sasuke said. He then proceeded to lie down on the dock like she did, using his arms to support his head as he stared at the sky. "It's a nice day."

"It feels weird to talk to you and not argue."

"I'm trying to be polite, Naruto-chan."

Naruto bit her lip, and then smirked, saying, "Hn."

"…dobe."

"That's better."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and said, "What are you doing today?"

"Not much, we're off missions and I'm too tired to train." Naruto informed him.

"Would you like to do something with me?"

"I just remembered something vitally important."

"…You can just say no if you want to."

"…I don't like 'no'. It's not creative."

Sasuke smirked. "Hn."

"Yep." Naruto said, replying to his grunt.

The Uchiha hesitated, "'Yep' to what?" He asked.

"Well, since you said 'Hn' I interpreted it to mean that you understand my grievance, you are completely okay with me being unable to do anything with you, and have no hurt feelings." Naruto explained.

"Ah." Sasuke said.

"See you tomorrow!" Naruto informed him. "Beware the fangirls of death!"

"Bye."

"Bye, Sasuke-kun." Naruto said, smiling brightly at him, and he nearly gasped from the way the sun chose that exact moment to encompass her in it's all-providing light. She left, and he leaned back, closing his eyes.

It was going to take forever to wipe that stupid grin of his face.

* * *

The last portion of her walk brought her to the playground by the Academy, since it was normally her favorite place to walk by and think. She was not expecting, however, as he walked by, to be tackled to the ground by a white blur, but she was. And the moment she saw who it was, she grabbed his face and kissed his forehead, then hugged him so hard he complained about breathing.

"Mommy!" Saru cried out, trying to struggle out of her grip. "Mommy! Mommy! Mooommy! Moooooommy!"

Knowing he was likely to repeat that word forever, Naruto let go of him, but she sat up and pulled her son into her lap. "Yes?" She asked, "Does my widdle bundwle of sunshine want something?" She pinched his cheeks even though she knew he hated that, and she rubbed her nose against his affectionately even as he sputtered.

"Ah! Leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo…"

Naruto let go.

"Leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo…"

_Who gave Saru sugar?_

"Leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo…"

"Saru, honey, I let go."

"Leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo, leggo…"

"Saru, you can stop telling me to let go of you now." Naruto informed him.

"Leggo, leggo, le… oh!" Saru finally noticed. "Mommy!" He cried, tackling her again. "I miss, miss, miss you! I miss you! I miss you!"

"I'm right here, Saru. 'I miss_ed_ you.'" Naruto corrected.

"Miss!" Saru declared.

"Miss_ed_!"

"Miss! You never leave! No more! Stay!" Saru demanded. "I wuv you!"

"I wuuuuuv wuuoooo twoooo." Naruto said, wrapping her arms around him again, squeezing him until he couldn't breathe.

The affectionate moment went on for a long time, until Saru's patience wore out and he said, "Sugar."

"No."

"Suuugar."

"No."

"Suuuuuuuugar."

"No."

"Pwease?"

"No."

"Pweeease?"

"Saru, I said 'No'."

"Puh. Wuh. Eeze."

"No."

Saru closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "Cookie."

"No."

"Cooooookie."

"Saru, we are not going to start this again."

Saru pouted.

"Hey, I see he found you!" Iruka said, waving at the two of them.

Naruto gaped.

The man's hair was in complete disarray, the stray ends of his hasty ponytail dyed green, his clothes in shreds, and dirt all over his face.

Iruka, despite his appearance, was smiling at the two Uzumaki's in front of him. "How'd the mission go?"

Naruto bypassed that question, asking, "What the hell did Saru _do _to you?" Saru, of course, pouted.

"Oh, nothing, Saru was fine." Iruka assured her, "We were practicing disguises at the Academy today."

"Oh, sorry, Saru." Naruto apologized, but the white-blonde haired boy continued to pout.

"Saru, be polite." Iruka lectured him.

Saru growled out, "I fogivew wu."

Naruto rolled her eyes, but he was so cute when saying that that she couldn't find it in her heart to lecture him about saying what he _meant_, although she supposed _manners_ was something he should learn, since she doubted _she'd_ ever been taught it. "Good, now that I'm forgiven we'll eat ramen tonight!"

Saru instantly forgave his mother in the depths of his heart from any and all grievances he had against her. "Ramen!" He cried out in pure joy.

Iruka laughed at their antics, but he didn't protest to Naruto's choice of an unhealthy food, since he felt that the young mother likely wanted to treat herself and her kid after their long separation. Although, if he knew Naruto had also had ramen for breakfast, he would have been indignant. "I'm done at the Academy today, so how about you two go home, and I'll take a shower then come and join you and bring a couple bowls of Ichiruki?"

"That'd be wonderful, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto smiled broadly, hugging Saru closer. She had no idea, now that Saru was in her arms, _why_ she'd delayed picking him up.

* * *

Eight bowls of eaten Ichiruki ramen, between the three of them, later, Saru was lying asleep in Naruto's lap, and Iruka was graciously cleaning up the dishes Naruto had left piled up around the house.

"There's something I need to talk to you about, Naruto. About Saru." Iruka said as he cleaned a plate.

Naruto instantly looked up from petting Saru's white-blonde hair, focusing her eyes on the back of her surrogate father's head. "Did something happen?" She asked nervously.

"Well…" Iruka paused, trying to find the best way to warm up to what he was trying to say. "Saru is old enough to eat normal food now, especially meat; I think he needs a lot of protein."

"Okay." Naruto said, ignorantly thinking that was all and going back to petting Saru's head.

"Have you noticed anything strange about him?" Iruka asked quickly.

"No." Naruto said, "Why?"

"Has there been anything strange going on recently? Has he been acting different from the way a normal child his age would?" Iruka asked, ignoring her question.

Angry that he wasn't answering her, Naruto spat out, "How the hell am I supposed to know that?"

"His ears, Naruto."

_Ears? _Naruto wondered. She leaned forward, gently touching Saru's ears. "They're… hairy? And big?" She asked.

"In a sense." Iruka said. He stopped the water, and grabbed a rag, drying his hands as he came over. He knelt next to the couch where they were sitting, and he brushed aside some hairs that were lingering on Saru's ear, covering it from view. "See this?" He asked, tracing the shape of Saru's ear with his finger.

"It's… pointed a bit?" Naruto asked.

Iruka nodded.

Saru's ear was human like, but small tufts of white-blonde hair were growing on the back of it, and its shape was pointed at the end.

"Is that bad?" Naruto asked, drawing Saru closer to her in fear.

"No, I don't think it's bad." Iruka reassured her. "Do you remember what you told me about when you were pregnant with Saru?"

"Yes." Naruto said.

Iruka nodded. "You told me that the moment you were pregnant with him, your body started to develop very fast, even though it wasn't fast enough. I think this was the Kyuubi no Kitsune inside of you-"

"The demon hurt Saru?" Naruto yelled in panic, immediately trying to sit up, but Iruka's hand on her shoulder forced her down.

"Saru is fine, Naruto, I promise. Just let me finish." Iruka assured, and when she nodded, he continued, "The demon inside of you was likely trying to save your life. Girls as young as you have had children before, but normally the mothers and sometimes even the children die during childbirth. So the demon had to adapt your body to bearing a child while you were pregnant, and I think the direct contact with the fox's chakra had a few side effects with Saru, but nothing that will hurt him."

"So… his ears are pointed? That's it?" Naruto asked, praying she was right.

Her hopes were dashed when Iruka shook his head.

"Saru's skin is extremely soft, and when I looked at him under a light, I noticed that small hairs were growing out of his skin, although I'm not sure whether or not they'll grow longer. The main differences are… well…" He sighed. "There is a line of hair traveling down the back of his skull to the bottom of his spine, and at the end there is a small, furry bone growing."

"Yeah, I know that." Naruto said. Something clicked in your head. "Is he growing a… you don't think it's a…" She couldn't finish.

"Tail?" Iruka said for her. "Yes, I do."

Naruto's eyes widened considerably.

"Also," Iruka continued, "there was an incident when I was making meat for our dinner one day. I left the raw meat on the counter, Saru took some of it, and he was eating it. I took the meat out of his hands and I waited for side effects, but other than being angry he didn't get sick or anything. It didn't affect him any more than having an apple or a mango would."

"He's a carnivore?"

"Naruto, techniqually we're all carnivores."

"Oh."

Iruka smiled at her, and he looked her in the eyes kindly. "I don't think anything will happen except he'll probably grow his tail out and his ears. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"No it's not!" Naruto yelled, glaring at Iruka.

"I won't tell anyone. Not even the Hokage, it you want." Iruka offered.

Naruto nodded, her throat constricted.

"Hey," Iruka said softly, pulling Naruto into a hug with Saru's sleeping form between them. "Saru will be fine.

Naruto clutched the back of Iruka's shirt with one hand, and with the other held onto Saru. The thing that had been bothering her for the entire day showed up again, and in a spurt of curiosity, she asked, "Am I feminine?"

"What?" Iruka asked, breaking off the hug to stare at her in confusion.

"Am I feminine? 'Cause I don't act like a girl normally does and stuff." Naruto said, "I watch and I listen to other girls, but I just… don't act like them."

Iruka took a deep breath and hesitated for a long moment before answering, "You shouldn't look at other girls your age; you should look at other _mothers_ then see how you compare."

"But…" Naruto bit her lip.

"What's wrong?" He pressed.

Naruto, in a slightly paranoid action, cupped her hands over Saru's ears. "But I _want _to be a girl my age! I don't want_ everything_ I am to be defined by Saru!"

Iruka paused, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry." Naruto said quietly, petting Saru's head again.

"No, it's my fault. I just wasn't thinking about that." Iruka apologized. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'm sure that hanging out with other girls your age will definitely help you act like one, but no matter how you act or what you do, you _are_ a girl your age, even if you aren't normal."

Naruto smirked. "Yeah, I'm knocked up_ with_ baggage and a demon in my belly. If I was _normal _the world would be messed up."

"Naruto…" Iruka started, beginning to make a long lecture about self-pity and how it wasn't her fault, but Naruto stopped him.

"I was making a joke, Iruka-sensei, it's fine." Naruto smiled. "I love Saru, and I guess I can live with being a jinchuuriki if it means I have the power to protect him, right?"

"Right." Iruka smiled at her.

There was a long, quiet moment when Iruka continued to kneel by the couch and Naruto petted Saru's hair lovingly, and finally Iruka said, "Your hair looks very nice today."

"Does it?" Naruto asked, reaching up to touch it. "You're the third person who's told me that today."

"Am I?" Iruka asked curiously.

"Yeah." Naruto closed her eyes for a moment, remembering. "Oh yeah, I went for a walk, and I saw Ino-pug. And she told me this rumor and then acted like we were suddenly best friends, weird huh? She invited me to a crazy sleepover, but… and then I saw Sasuke-kun, and he was still acting all… and he complimented my hair. … Hey, wait, I didn't tell you about Sasuke! I have a huge problem!"

"With Sasuke?" Iruka asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded seriously. "He has a crush on me."

Iruka gaped. Crickets began their chirping song outside the apartment, and Naruto waited expectantly for Iruka to reply.

"Wh… wha… _Sasuke _has a crush? On you?" Iruka repeated.

"Yeah, crazy stoic bastard he is an' all. He told me he was going to court me, this was after we'd fought that enemy ninja and I got hurt, and when I woke up he kissed me on my forehead, but I sorta flipped out on him, an' told him I didn't like him that way, but he _smiled_ at me and he said that he was gunna court me and make me fall in love with him. So I have a _huge _problem!" Naruto recounted, flailing her arms wildly around her as she got to the end to express just how huge of a problem she had.

"Why is that a problem?" Iruka asked.

"Huh?" Naruto tilted her head.

Iruka smiled at her. "Sasuke, even if he's not talkative, is a very nice kid. And he has a crush on you, so what's wrong with that?" He asked ignorantly.

Naruto pointed to her son who was sleeping in her lap.

* * *

_Just listen to your heart? What kind of advice is that? _Naruto growled, frightening Saru who was wiggling in her arms. _All my heart does is pump blood throughout my body, what's that supposed to help me with? Stupid Iruka! Stupid Sasuke! Stupid… onyx black eyes… red, twirling, twirling, piercing, red eyes… stupid… smile, white teeth, lights lighting up at the corners of his eyes, making me feel so giddy, I… Stupid Naruto, we're giving Saru to daycare and going on missions. We're just going on missions with Sasuke, nothing major._

_ What is that? _Naruto wondered, seeing a crowd of people standing at the other side of the daycare. Instantly, she tensed. She couldn't let those people see her go to the daycare! There was someone there with black, spiky hair. _Sasuke?_ _Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no…_ She chanted, starting to turn.

The person with the black, spiky hair moved slightly, and Naruto could see his darkly tanned features, and realized that it was not Sasuke at all.

She breathed a sigh of relief, and skirted around the crowd, keeping her head low, so all they could see, if any had bothered to look, was a little girl dropping off her baby brother at the daycare.

* * *

"Hello, Sakura-drone! Sasuke-kun!" Naruto said, waving at her teammates as she ran to join them. Briefly, she wondered why her heart was beating so fast, but she ignored it to dwell on later.

"Hi, Pudgy-chan!" Sakura waved back at her, getting her revenge for the 'Sakura-drone' greeting.

"Hello, Naruto-chan.." Sasuke said. He didn't look at her.

"So, what are we doing today?" Naruto asked, looking around for sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei will tell us when he arrives." Sakura told her.

"So… two hours?"

"More or less."

* * *

"Sorry I'm late. I had to wash a cat." Kakashi told them.

"That's not half as original as the first excuse." Naruto pouted, disappointed.

Kakashi shrugged. "That one was special; I was saving it just for the first time. And I was so busy washing a cat that I couldn't think of a better excuse."

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow. "You were so busy washing a _cat_ that you couldn't think up an excuse?"

Kakashi nodded, rubbing the back of his head. "Don't kill me. I'm going to teach you something today." He advised.

"Awesome! Are we gunna learn some super cool jutsu?" Naruto cried, her eyes gleaming.

Kakashi shrugged. "Sort of. I'm going to teach you tree climbing."

"I already can climb trees." Naruto informed him.

"Idiot!" Sakura admonished her. "Tree climbing is a chakra control exercise!"

"Oh. How come you know about it?" Naruto asked.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I _asked _for private lessons when I went to the Academy on chakra control. This is the one Mizuki-sensei gave me."

Naruto stiffened and she froze.

"So, what do we do?" Sasuke asked Kakashi, but Sakura answered him.

"Well," Sakura said, "Mizuki-sensei told me to concentrate on controlling my chakra. He said you have to provide a steady chakra flow to your feet. And he showed me, like this." She brought two fingers up to her face and concentrated.

Naruto wasn't paying attention; her ears were pounding so hard that she couldn't hear anything.

Kakashi noticed immediately, surprised to see that the mere mention of Mizuki's name had sparked such a reaction, and Sasuke saw also that something was wrong with Naruto.

"Sakura." Kakashi stopped her.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Let's leave it at that, and just let the others work on concentrating chakra to their feet. I have a different exercise for you to work on while they're doing that." Kakashi said, drawing her slightly to the side to explain the concept of water walking to her, while he kept a close eye on Naruto.

The orange-clad genin twisted her braid around her hand, tugging harshly in an attempt to relieve the nervous pressure building up in her chest. She shakily brought her hand up to her face, seeing flashes of Mizuki's face… and other things. For a strange reason, her mind conjured up a feeling of her stomach being bloated, and Naruto began to shake harder.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke's voice asked in the distance.

Naruto's vision began to compress, and suddenly she fell to the ground, unconscious.


	9. Chapter 9

**Review. Please. If I don't get… twenty more reviews I won't update. Not really. But that works for other authors. I just can't do that. I like writing too much. I'd like to, but review anyway and I'll update anyway. Still, I like feedback and pretending I got a lot of emails. So. Yeah… Now to the stuff that is far more important than my rambling… (14 days left of school! Summer is nigh!) Yay! 124 people on Story Alert!  
**

**Someday soon the poll(s) will be open on my profile, so check them out!**

* * *

"What happened?" Sakura asked, frightened, but she managed to stare accusingly at her crush.

"I didn't… she just fainted." Sasuke said, stuttering slightly.

Kakashi put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder to assure him. "It's no one's fault. Come on, she's just fainted." He made a shadow clone and sent it to get a cold cloth.

"What do we do?" Sasuke asked, panicking.

"She's fine, we just need to wait for her to wake up, calm down." Kakashi told him, placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder but the Uchiha shrugged him off, glaring at him.

"Can't we do anything? Don't we need, ice, or water, or do we need to slap her cheeks? Should we get smelling salts? Do you know where there's a medic nin? Was she hurt? Why'd she faint? Is she-"

"Sasuke, I can tell you're worried because that's the most I've ever hurt you say of your own free will, but she's going to be fine. Just sit down." Kakashi said.

Sasuke's Sharingan eyes flashed, but he was actually reassured. However, he sat down right next to Naruto, and proceeded to move her arms and legs out of the awkward positions they were in.

"Don't move her head." Sakura advised him.

Sasuke looked up at her, his eyes questioning, and said, "Hn?"

"My mom faints all the time, whenever she's worried about my dad or eaten something that gives her heartburn. She has extremely low blood sugar… and kinda likes the attention. But you're not supposed to move their head." Sakura explained.

Sasuke began, "Naruto-chan wouldn't do this for-"

"…the attention." Sakura finished. "I know. I know we're not the best of friends, Sasuke-kun, but Naruto-chan _is _my teammate. I know something must have spooked her."

They both looked at each other for a long moment with questioning eyes, since neither one of them could figure out exactly what it was that had spooked her.

"Sensei…?" Sakura asked, connecting her eyes with Kakashi's only visible eye.

Kakashi took a deep breath, and his clone came back with the damp cloth. Stalling, he placed the cloth on Naruto's forehead, and gently moved her braid so that it was draping over her shoulder. "Naruto…" He began, but he stopped himself. Some kind of moral dilemma was obviously playing about in his head, and he appeared to struggle with it for a long moment.

The deciding factor seemed to come when his eye once again came down on Naruto's still form, and he nodded to himself. "Do not mention the traitor Mizuki to Naruto's face ever again." He said.

The other two genin started, Sasuke's eyes widening, and Sakura gasping as she brought her hand up to her mouth.

"Wh… what…?" Sakura stuttered.

"_Mizuki Touji_ betrayed the village. He committed several crimes that did not reveal themselves until he defected from the village, attempting to steal a valuable scroll from the Hokage." Kakashi said.

"He _did_?" Sakura wondered.

"What does that have to do with Naruto-chan?"

"He used Naruto-chan to take the scroll. She was the one who took the scroll from the Hokage's chamber, he met her later in the forest and attempted to take the scroll by force and kill her." Kakashi sighed. "He used severe manipulation to get her to do that, since he knew she was the only one who could. Naruto was friends with the Hokage, and she frequently went to the tower to visit him. Besides that… The name of that man is taboo on our squad." He decided.

"But that wouldn't…" Sakura began, but she stopped.

Sasuke, however, finished what she was saying. "Naruto-chan wasn't upset when we fought that other ninja, and it didn't bother her enough to make her faint. Naruto-chan wouldn't faint at the name 'Jirobo' why would she faint at our old teachers?"

"He raped her." Kakashi said bluntly.

There was no noise in the clearing for a long time. Sakura sat back on her knees and stared into space with a terrified expression. Sasuke's hair fell over his face, and it was impossible for you to see anything.

"And his name is never to be mentioned here again, and if it slips there will be severe punishment, understand?" Kakashi asked them.

"Ye… yes." Sakura stuttered, dropping her head into her hands.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi pressed, staring down at his raven-haired student who didn't say a word.

"I need to go." Sasuke said. He stood up abruptly and ran in the opposite direction, disappearing at once into the trees as Sakura watched him go with large eyes.

"Sasuke?" She called after him softly, but her eyes connected momentarily with her sensei, and Kakashi shook his head to stop her from chasing after the Uchiha. "Why is he leaving?"

"Likely to destroy something." Kakashi answered her.

And the copy-ninja was proven correct when a large 'bang' and a giant fireball appeared somewhere far in the distance.

* * *

Naruto's eyes blinked open, and the harsh sunlight made her squint. She lifted a hand to her face to block out the light with her fingers, and she saw two blobs, one gray and one pink, bob their heads.

"She's awake." The gray blob informed the pink blob.

"Naruto-chan, how are you feeling?" The pink blob asked her, a beige arm reaching down, removing a cool cloth from Naruto's forehead.

"Fine, blobs, how are you?" Naruto mumbled, closing her eyes to block out the sun.

Kakashi blinked, scratching the back of his gray mane in confusion. "Did she just call us 'blobs'?"

Sakura shook her head and her pink hair flew about her face. "She's disoriented after her faint, she should be coming around soon."

"Sheeee'll be coooming rooouuund the mooouuuntains wheeeen she cooooomes." Naruto sang, "She'll be coooming rooouund the moouuntains wheeen she cooomes, she'll be coooming rooouund the mountain, she'll be cooooming rooound the moouutain, she'll be coming rooound the moountain when she cooooooooomes."

"Oookay. How many fingers am I holding up?" Kakashi asked, waving his hand in front of her face.

"Four." Naruto replied. "One's a thumb."

Sakura held out her arm in front of Naruto, and Naruto grabbed it. The pink-haired girl pulled her friend up to a sitting position, and Naruto tucked her feet under her legs. "What happened? Did I get hit?" Naruto asked.

"You fainted." The copy-ninja informed her.

"Oh." Naruto said, blushing.

"Who knew you had crazy blood pressure, eh?" Sakura smiled.

"I don't…" Naruto began, but she stopped, catching sight of Sakura's face. "Were you crying Sakura-drone?"

"No." Sakura said quickly, bringing up her elbow to cover her eyes. She stood up quickly, turning around so fast that the flap of her dress nearly slapped Naruto in the face. "I have to go, see you tomorrow, sensei!" Sakura yelled, running away while lifting one hand over her shoulder to wave goodbye.

"Bye…?" Naruto wondered. She looked over at Kakashi, confused. "What's up with Sakura-chan? And where's Sasuke-kun?"

"I told them."

Naruto, instead of screaming or jumping up in terror, simply looked away from him, focusing her gaze on a tree. "You did?" She asked.

"Just enough to tell them the traitor's name was taboo. Not about Saru, or the kitsune." Kakashi informed her. "And I think Sasuke-kun burned down half of the forest." He sighed, standing up. He looked over at a long trail of smoke to the east of the training grounds, and he sighed. "If he keeps this up, it'll spread and there won't be enough for the exams…"

"Exams?" Naruto wondered.

Kakashi waved his arm dismissively. "It's nothing to worry about." He said. "We'll meet here at the normal time tomorrow, and go back to missions 'till Thursday when we'll try the tree climbing exercise again, how's that sound?"

"Fine…" Naruto said warily.

"How about you calm down, Sasuke-kun?" Kakashi asked.

"What?" Naruto stood up, yelling, "You just said he burned down half a forest!"

"Did I?" Kakashi wondered. "Hm… I guess I did. But I have something important to do…"

"Read porn?" Naruto guessed vehemently.

"Not _everything _I do is related to porn, Naru-chan." Kakashi pouted, while Naruto fumed at the nickname. "But…" The copy-ninja admitted, "Yes. Porn. Ja ne!" He brought two fingers up to his nose and he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving an indiginant and slightly confused Naruto behind him.

"You'll _never_ get a girlfriend, sensei!" Naruto yelled into thin air. However, she could faintly hear someone call back, saying something along the lines of _You'd be surprised_.

Naruto shook her head to clear it of whatever dizziness was left from her faint, and she stomped off to meet the enraged avenger, angry that calming the Uchiha was her duty, even after she'd just fainted. Although, her fainting might be the cause of the entire fiasco… She sighed. _How's Sasuke going to react…? Oh Kami… I hate you, sensei._

* * *

"Sasuke-kun?" Naruto whispered.

Currently in the act of sweating profusely in a clearing, surrounded by a ring of fire, as he threw hundreds of kunai simultaneously at a misshapen tree-target that looked, if you squinted, sort of like a grown man, Sasuke tripped when he heard Naruto's voice, fell ungracefully on his back, and let go of the kunai straight up in the air, so he would have been impaled if not for an orange blur that grabbed him and pulled him out of the way, slamming their backs against a tree to survive the Armageddon of sharp weapons.

Sasuke breathed heavily, and he stared at his savior with large, Sharingan eyes. "Naruto-chan…?" He said softly.

"Hi." Naruto said shyly, blushing profusely. Her demeanor changed immediately as the ocean-blue and Sharingan-red eyes connected, and she stared at him, horrified. "Are you crying?" Naruto gasped.

"No!" Sasuke yelled, turning his face away so he was facing the tree, his skin scraping against the bark in his embarrassment.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said, calmly, brushing her hand against his cheek, but he pulled away from her touch. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about, and it's a deal better than blowing up a forest." She grinned softly.

_How about doing it _and_ blowing up a forest? _Sasuke thought cynically, but he merely said, "Hn."

"Hn." Naruto replied. "Now turn around and let me fix you up or even your fangirls won't recognize you."

"Good." Sasuke mumbled, burying his face even further into the bark. "Go away."

Naruto frowned. "Well, then, _Lord _Uchiha, I'll just leave you to mope around in self-pity and leave you to destroy public property." She growled. Naruto turned away sharply; stepping away from him, but Sasuke lunged out and grabbed her wrist, forcing her to halt.

"I didn't…" He said, but he stopped, realizing how sweaty his hand was against her cool skin and he blushed.

"Come on, don't act like an idiot." Naruto grumbled.

"What?" Sasuke asked, staring at the back of her head since she didn't turn around to face him.

"You don't want me around now, don't you?" Naruto spat out, trying her hardest not to shake. "You don't care about… Now that you know how I've lost my… How could you like me? How stupid was I, huh? I had you falling in love with me and I just faint, losing it all?" A tear rolled off her cheek, and she did her best to look nonchalant as she wiped it off with her free hand, but she was unsuccessful.

Sasuke's heart commanded action over his body. Before he knew what he was doing, he spun Naruto around with his grip on her wrist, and once her teary face was in front of his he let go of his wrist, both hands blotched the side of her face, and he jammed his lips against hers.

Confused for a moment, Naruto took a long time to process that Sasuke was kissing her, and she took so long to react that his lips had already abandoned hers by the time she wondered whether she should kiss him back.

Sasuke's hands gently abandoned their grip on the sides of her cheeks, and he sighed for a long moment, before he snapped backward, panic adorning his features. "I'm sorry!" He blurted out, bringing his hands up to his face to cover himself. He groaned loudly, and collapsed to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, kneeling down next to his comatose form. _Did my lips kill him or something? _She wondered.

Sasuke merely groaned louder, clutching blades of grass that had survived his rage, successfully ripping them out of the ground.

"Hey." Naruto said softly, gently rubbing his back like she did whenever Saru got a stomach ache. "It's okay, whatever happened-"

"I shouldn't have kissed you when you just fainted after only hearing that _monsters _name! Gragh!" Sasuke screamed, muffling his voice with the earth.

Naruto blinked for a moment, something very sweet and tender immediately popping into her head, but she shook her head. For a long moment, she debated whether to say what was on her mind, but then she took a long glance at Sasuke, and she burst into giggles, trying as hard as she could to suppress her full blown laughter.

"Are you…" Sasuke said, shocked. He lifted his face from the earth to confirm that Naruto was indeed rolling over on the floor next to him, giggling at him. "It's not funny! What he did isn't-"

"Kami! Sasuke-kun! You looked so…!" Naruto giggled. After a long hesitation, she calmed herself down enough to say, "You are the Lord of Angst." But then she collapsed back into giggles at the scandalized look on his face.

"_Lord of…_ Naruto-chan! You need to be more serious! This isn't-"

"Rolling around in the dirt! Ha!"

"Are you snorting?"

"The _proud, phlegmatic _Uchiha-san!"

"Naruto-kun, do you realize how inappropriate this is-"

"Sasuke-kun in the dirt!"

"-for this situation! You shouldn't be-"

"You!"

"-laughing-"

"Are!"

"-like that…"

"So!"

"Naruto…"

"Goofy!"

Sasuke's forehead twitched. _Did she just call me goofy? _"Dobe." He growled.

"Teme!" Naruto giggled.

"…You snort when you laugh."

Naruto pouted, crossing her arms. "So?"

Sasuke blushed. "It's cute." He informed her.

"Did you notice I used the word 'phlegmatic'?" Naruto asked shyly.

"It's an accomplishment for you, isn't it?" Sasuke guessed.

Naruto rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Well, Shikamaru said you were 'phlegmatic' on the trip… and I looked it up, and then I vowed to use it in a sentence like Iruka-sensei used to assign for homework… and I did!"

"Congratulations." Sasuke whispered, leaning closer to her.

"Uh…" Naruto stared into his onyx eyes. "Thanks, Sa…"

Sasuke silenced her by capturing his lips with hers for the second time that day. He cupped her chin with one of his hands, and used that momentum to slowly pull her lips against his.

Naruto's eyes fluttered, and she leaned closer against his lips, blushing with pleasure as she felt the hot breath from his nose cause stray hands out of her braid to gently tickle her face.

Sasuke, again, jumped back from their intimate contact, horror crossing his features. "I… I… can't b… believe I… twice…" Sasuke stuttered.

"Sasuke, I'm not going to faint." Naruto assured him.

"You're not?" Sasuke blinked at her. "Well…. I…" He struggled to find something to say, and settled for, "Okay."

"Okay?" Naruto repeated.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Good. Now that you're sufficiently calmed down, Kakashi canceled practice for today. Missions tomorrow. Bye, Sasuke-kun!" She said, standing up quickly.

"But… that… I just kissed you and that's all you're going to say!" Sasuke yelled, glaring at her.

Naruto shrugged. "Well, three kisses aren't enough to make me fall in love with you." She informed him in a sing-song voice.

"What is?" Sasuke asked, exasperated.

Naruto shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?"

"It's _your _heart I'm trying to win."

"My head, too." She grinned. "There may not be much in it intellectually, but you'll have to convince me that it's a good idea to fall in love with you before I'll manage."

"And how do I do that?" Sasuke asked.

"Follow your heart." Naruto said, repeating the advice Iruka had given her earlier.

Sasuke glared at her, obviously not understanding, just like Naruto hadn't understood until only a minute ago.

"See you tomorrow!" Naruto called out, waving as she ran away, her braid dancing behind her as her soft footsteps carried her figure out of sight.

Sasuke watched her until she was gone, and then lay back, sighing, on the ground, not carrying about the ash that was currently rubbing into his hair.

* * *

Naruto lay back on the stool, content. Allowing herself a moment of reverie, she scrutinized her teammates as their sensei waited for the bill. They were sitting at Ichiruki's, having previously consumed, two bowls for Sasuke, a bowl for Sakura, three bowls for Kakashi, and a grand total of six-and-a-half bowls for Naruto, which had left Kakashi groaning beside her at the anticipated dent in his wallet, Sakura bug-eyed as she contemplated how on earth the orange-clad girl had managed to cause Sasuke to fall head-over-heels for her, and Sasuke smirking at her, while inwardly groaning as he imagined the incredible amount of maintenance Naruto would require if he ever did manage to win her over.

For the past three weeks, her team had been doing D-rank missions, while Naruto and Sasuke worked to master the tree-climbing exercise, both managing in a very short time since they were silently competing with each other in an effort to impress the other, and Sakura mastered water-walking. Sasuke had been showing up to their meetings early, occasionally putting a random flower in Naruto's hair, that he had obtained from who-knows-where, since no rumors of Sasuke buying flowers anywhere had showed up. Their talks had evolved into a continuous flirtatious banter, although Naruto had refused to allow him to kiss her again.

Naruto and Sakura's relationship had progressed into something slightly passable to friends. Sakura was still bitter over the loss of Sasuke, but she appeared to have warmed up to her. Naruto had the faintest suspicion that Kakashi had had a long talk with Sakura about the subject, however.

Saru's tail had grown to three inches long, and Naruto had grown into the habit of shaving his neck and ears during the three-year-old's baths, while he was occupied with attacking every bubble he could find with a ninja figurine. The child retained his cheery quality, and he was so sweet and kind, except apparently, at the day care where he was terrorizing the children and the helpers by hugging everyone and attempting to eat everything that relatively resembled food, even if it was plastic.

Kakashi had not changed at all. He was the same, perverted, late, and ignorant sensei as ever.

Which was why it was not out of character for him, upon receiving the bill, to stuff in enough money to pay for his and Sakura's meals, hand the rest to Sasuke, and then announce, out of the blue, that, "Tomorrow's the Chuunin Exams. I think you're ready, all you need to do it sign this and hand it to the ninja at the front of the Hokage Building."

"What?" Sakura screamed, staring at their sensei.

"What?" Sasuke yelled, seeing the bill.

"Ramen…" Naruto sighed, still in a blissful, ramen-induced state. Then she caught on. "Wait… exams? Chuunin? _Huh_?"

"Oh, you don't need to worry yet. They're on Friday." Kakashi informed them.

"Tomorrow's Thursday." Sakura informed him.

"Ah." Kakashi thought for a moment, and then said, "Well then. I suppose I gave you a day to train for it."

"A _day_?" Naruto yelled. "Sensei! How could you?"

"I got distracted." Kakashi shrugged. He pulled out three crumpled sheets of paper from his jacket and set them down in front of him, leaving his students to reach around him and take one.

"Why do I get the bill?" Sasuke asked, nonchalantly trying to steal his sensei's wallet.

Kakashi held his wallet over his head, and replied, "Because you have to pay for Naruto-chan and your date."

"We're not on a date, you and Sakura are here." Sasuke growled.

"You're sitting next to each other, aren't you?" Kakashi reminded him. "It's a date. Accept it."

"Whose a date?" Naruto asked, looking up from the form she was going to have to fill out.

"Nothing." Kakashi said as Sasuke glared at him. "Friday at ten you all should be at the Hokage Building, just follow the signs we set up earlier for our D-rank mission."

Sasuke frowned. "I don't remember setting up signs."

"Oh." The copy-ninja realized. "I guess we forgot that one." He shrugged it off, "Doesn't matter. Everyone will find the room eventually."

"Brilliant, sensei." Sakura rolled her eyes.

Kakashi nodded, "Aren't I?"

* * *

Sasuke left, after a cheery good-bye to Naruto and a halfhearted attempt to kiss her hand that was not done in any attempt to woo her, but an attempt at humor which left Sakura foaming out the mouth.

"Hey, Pudgy-chan, can we talk?" Sakura asked after Sasuke had left.

"Sure." Naruto said cautiously. "There is something I want to ask you."

"'K." Sakura said. "Why don't we just walk?" She started heading down a random road, not giving Naruto a chance to approve or negate her offer, but Naruto didn't mind. "I wanted to ask you about Sasuke-kun."

Naruto froze, her hand still in the air from where she'd been using it to wave good-be to Ayame, who worked at Ichiruki's. "What about him?"

"Well…" Sakura blushed, "Are you going to go on a date with him?"

"I don't know." Naruto answered truthfully.

"What?" Sakura yelled, grabbing Naruto by the shoulders and staring into her eyes. "Naruto! You _like Sasuke a lot_, I can see that! If you don't encourage him soon, he's going to give up on you, and he'll have any shoulder he wants to cry on, don't you understand?"

Naruto stared back in confusion. "Sasuke-kun has only two shoulders…"

"I meant girls! He can have any girl he wants to comfort him after your breakup!" Sakura clarified.

"We're not dating." Naruto reminded her.

"Exactly!"

"I'm confused." Naruto frowned.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "It's not that hard to understand, Naruto-chan. If you don't encourage Sasuke-kun, someone else is going to snap him up and-"

"Hey! Stop!" Sakura and Naruto froze, neither one of them uttering that cry.

They sprang into action, running the rest of the length of the road and taking a sharp turn, stumbling across an interesting sight. A strange person, wearing make-up and a strange black outfit, carrying an obscure object on his back, and wearing a headband with a symbol Naruto recognized but couldn't place, was holding a young boy with a long, white scarf by his collar, and the boy was hovering a few inches off the ground. Due to the young boy's kicking, screaming, red-face, and cried of 'Put me down, you jerk!', both Naruto and Sakura concluded that the boy was not happy in his current position.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked.

"That's Konohamaru." Sakura whispered into Naruto's ear.

"Who?" Naruto asked her.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "The honorable grandson of the Hokage!" She informed her in a furious hiss.

"No need to but my ear off." Naruto pouted.

"No need to be stupid." Sakura retorted.

"Hey! I don't need help! Especially from girls!" Konohmaru hollered.

Naruto glared at him, placing her left hand on her hip and waving the other hand around in a pose so similar to Konohamaru's own mother that the young boy paled. "What is different about girls?" She asked in a sickly sweet tone. Naruto abandoned her pose without meaning to, when one hand subconsciously abandoned his position to cover her stomach.

"N…Nothing…" Konohamaru said, not afraid of Naruto, but of her pink-haired companion who was currently glaring daggers at him while cracking her knuckles.

"Listen, I'm just gunna treat this little kid a lesson, and _then_ the two of you can fight over me, 'k?" The make-up wearing ninja said smugly, "Guess you've heard of Kankuro of the Sand Village, huh? My fame precedes me."

"Who's 'Kankuro of the Sand Village'?" Naruto asked blankly.

"He's referring to himself, you idiot!" Sakura chided her.

"Oh. Ooops." Naruto blushed, but it disappeared quickly. "We're not fighting over a gay guy!"

"Gay?" Kankuro repeated, blinking.

"Duh. Why else are you wearing make-up?" Naruto caught sight of Kankuro's furious expression, and she apologized, saying, "Sorry. Are you a lesbian? Still, not interested."

"I'm a _guy_! I'm not _gay_! Sheesh!" Kankuro dropped Konohamaru, and furiously set his strange backpack on the ground, biting his lip, and then shouting, "This is _war paint_!"

"Right. Still in denial, I see." Naruto smirked.

"Kage B-"

"Crow I-"

"Stop."

"-unshin…?"

Kankuro didn't turn around, but he let his strange backpack fall to the ground, and he stared at a random point in front of him, terror donning his features. "Gaara-san…?" He whispered.

Naruto's hand subconsciously tightened on her stomach.

Hanging upside-down, covered by the shade of a tree, a red-haired ninja in desert clothing glared at Kankuro. The make-up wearing boy shivered in terror as he stared at his younger. "I was just-" Kankuro began to explain, but he was silenced by a slight grunt from the red-head.

"I told you not to mess with the kid, Kan-kun." A blonde girl with four pony-tails sticking out of her head and a giant fan at her side said, sticking her tongue out.

"Temari nee-chan! I was just-"

Gaara's teal eyes shifted to the blonde. "You did not deter him from his course of action, Temari, you are as guilty as Kankuro. Baki will be informed that you ignored his orders." Gaara informed them. Then, the impassive red-head visibly started. He glanced down at his hand, which was currently over his stomach.

His gaze snapped to Naruto, who returned the gaze. Calculating teal eyes and confused blue eyes met. Gaara's eyes flashed white and Naruto's red. Neither backed down from the tense, gaze, and Kankuro, Temari, and Sakura stared, bewildered, at the exchange between the two as Konohamaru attempted to crawl away from the conflict he'd created.

"Who are you?" Gaara asked.

"Who's asking?" Naruto replied.

Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm, frightened at the sudden burst of killer intent coming from the red-head, and she yelled, "I'm Sakura Haruno and this is Naruto Uzumaki, pleased to make your acquaintance, we'll be escorting the honorable grandson far, far away, bye, hope to see you soon!" She breathed out, nearly faster than anyone could catch. She tugged on Naruto's arm, and the orange-clad obediently followed, although she didn't relent her gaze with the red-haired ninja.

Gaara didn't say a word, and he didn't move anything but his eyes as Sakura dragged Naruto over to Konohamaru, where she picked the young boy up by his scarf and then proceeded to drag the two out of sight.

_What was that?_ Temari wondered, but she didn't say it out loud. She had learned long ago, that in the case of her younger brother, the best thing to do was ignore him and not ask questions.

* * *

"What was with that?" Sakura hissed, still holding onto Konohmaru's collar even though the young boy was whimpering and crying.

"Strong lady, please, let me go, I didn't-"

"What was what?" Naruto asked.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You were ogling that red-head from Suna! No offense, but you have Sasuke-kun eating out of your hand right now, and that red-head was the creepiest thing I've ever seen." She looked back to make sure the Suna nin weren't following them, and then tugged on Konohamaru's collar, making her way to the Hokage building, where she was going to drop off the trouble making nine year old.

"Don't hurt the kid, I got him." Naruto told her, ignoring the question. Konohamaru tried to make a dash for it when Sakura let go of him, but Naruto scooping him up in her arms and draped him over her shoulder.

"Hey! I'm nine years old! You can't do this to me!"

"Yes, I can." Naruto said in a final tone. "And I don't like that Suna nin, Sakura-chan, but it was like… de'ja vu. I know I've seen him before… or something. And it's not like I don't like Sasuke-kun."

"Wow, that's all you can say? It's not like I don't like him? What kind of confession is that? I've _seen _the way you blush when you're around him, and I've heard you two flirt, so don't act like it's nothing." Sakura growled.

Naruto sighed. "Yeah."

"Wait, Sasuke Uchiha, Sasuke?" Konohamaru asked.

"Be quiet, annoying little child." Sakura hissed, cracking her knuckles.

"I will be quiet." Konohamaru agreed.

"Well, I'm just not sure I should have a relationship like that now. When we're thirteen." Naruto explained.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "We live in a ninja village, we _are_ ninjas. Our average life expectancy is twenty-four years old. Your life is over half done." She reminded the blonde.

"I will _not _die that early! I'm going to become the greatest ninja there ever was! And you better believe it!" Naruto yelled.

"Sheesh! Keep your voice down, you're attracting a crowd!" Sakura reminded her.

The orange-clad ninja shook her head. "Nah. The fact that it looks like we're kidnapping the Hokage's grandson is what's drawing the crowd."

"Can I speak yet?" Konohamaru asked.

"No." Sakura said.

"Yes." Naruto said. Sakura glared sharply at her, but she rolled her eyes and said, "Just let the kid speak, Sakura."

"Thank you! What are your names? I'm Konohamaru! I'm gunna be Hokage." Konohamaru boasted, waving his arms around exuberantly, or as best as he could since Naruto was still carrying him over her shoulder.

"_Going to_ be Hokage." Naruto corrected.

"You're not my mom!" Konohamaru pouted.

"Say it." She demanded.

"I'm _going to _be Hokage." He reluctantly admitted.

"Good boy."

"Are you gunna be in the Chuunin Exams?" Konohamaru asked.

"Wow, everyone knew about this but us, huh? Stupid sensei." Sakura growled.

"Yes, we are. We'll be the team that whoops everyone else. Look for us, 'k?" Naruto growled.

"Sure!" Konohamaru promised. "Just don't get eaten in the Forest of Death!"

"What forest?"

"Oh, don't tell anyone I told you that."

"What forest?"

"Can you set me down now?"

"What forest?"

"Oh, look, it's Sasuke Uchiha!"

Naruto turned, her grip slackened, and Konohamaru struggled out. He managed to break out of her grip, and he cheered until gravity came into play and he fell down flat on his face.

"Ha!" Sakura laughed. "You are so, totally _enamored _with Sasuke-kun! Admit it!"

"No!" Naruto cried out.

The honorable grandson was left to nurse the growing bruise on his face as Naruto ran away, followed closely by a girl who had recently become her friend, and who was attempting to beat her to a pulp to make her admit that she was in love.


	10. Chapter 10

**Polls… difficult to set up and I said there'd be more than one. If you get an idea for a new poll or want me to include a pairing I forgot, then just send me a message. I don't mind. I'm bored. Please… **

**Did you know it can hail frogs? **

**Yes. Random. 10ish days left of school! Review! Please! I have over a hundred people on Story Alert but… reviews? (pouts) And here it is, the longest chapter I've done yet (although only by threeish pages)  
**

* * *

_Two weeks ago…_

_Orochimaru licked his lips in anticipation as the wind threw stinging sand into his face. His gaze swept over the unending desert which was marred only by an extremely distance shadow that was days of travel away, and a mountain range four times as far away as that. "Ku ku ku." He chuckled._

_The three people by his side glanced up at him for a moment, but their gazes were completely different. In Kabuto was the gaze of an equal, he looked at Orochimaru as a partner, albeit a stronger one than he was, and Orochimaru allowed him to. _

_Suitchi Shin, a ten-year-old female with extraordinarily long, white hair, glowing green eyes, and seals running the length of her arms and legs, looked at him like he was the devil himself. That, perhaps, was the cause of Orochimaru's glee. The poor girl, after performing the jutsu he'd trained her for all of her life, was going to die. _

_And she wasn't happy about it._

_Keeping her in line was a man who had recently risen in Orochimaru's ranks. Jirobo's gaze was half the look of worship and half a hardening lust for revenge. The permanent triangular, curse-mark lines snaking about his face allowed him to constantly be at a state with heightened power and senses, while allowing him to switch easily between his normal self and the red boil skinned beast he became with his curse mark. Orochimaru fervently wished he could copy that, since it appeared to be a great improvement on the curse mark which took a large amount of chakra to activate and had a definite time lag, but to do so he'd need to torture someone with an active curse mark with the chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox._

_The best part about Jirobo, certainly, was the fact he'd lost to Sasuke Uchiha, and he knew two important facts about the boy which he'd used to qualify himself for an experimental surgery. _

_The first, was that Sasuke had activated one tomoe in his left eye and three in his right eye, which meant that the boy was vulnerable, since, according the files Orochimaru had stolen, when one eye had more tomoe's than the other, after prolonged use the bearer would grow dizzy, and sometimes collapse. _

_The second was the fact that Sasuke was enamored of the Nine-Tails' Jinchuuriki. Undoubtedly, this could be used to their advantage. Mizuki had yet to be executed, since he was being interrogated by Ibiki Morino, the Head of Interrogation in Konoha, over who he was working for. The chuunin had yet to give, and he was obviously waiting for Orochimaru to rescue him, as Orochimaru had said he would, although originally not planned on doing. _

_Jirobo had mostly recovered from the experimental surgery, and only time would tell whether it was useful or not. If it worked, undoubtedly Orochimaru would be using it on Sasuke… albeit before he inhabited the body so that he wouldn't have to deal with the pain. _

_The former-member of the Sound Four had been made a member of Orochimaru's inner ranks because he was a good, psychological weapon to take in Sasuke, and because he held a definite grudge against the Nine Tails' Jinchuuriki, who had burned off most of his face, creating a bone-like, bare headed, distorted mass on top of Jirobo's neck. How he could still speak, Orochimaru had no idea._

_Now was not the time for any more extended reverie. Orochimaru turned his eyes back to the shadowed mass in the distance. They had a Kage to destroy._

* * *

"Stop wiggling Saru, or I'm going to cut you open!" Naruto warned.

"No like baths! No! No!" Saru ducked down into the mass of bubbles, and burst up, spraying his mother with water. He laughed loudly as he gave himself a beard.

Naruto, holding a razor and a bottle of shaving cream, glared at him before starting to giggle.

Saru pursed his lips and growled, but the movement of air caused bubbles to start flying out of his mouth. Overjoyed with this, he pursed his lips again and began to blow, trying his hardest to create even more floating bubbles, although he was mostly just spitting.

Naruto sighed. "Your stupid little tail is far too difficult." She informed him.

Digesting that information, Saru stopped blowing for a moment and tried to think. Being the child of Naruto, that expression made him look like he was Atlas, bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders, and trying to decide whether or not it was a good idea to go snowboarding. He wiggled his nose and his three-inch long tail, looking like a poodle dog due to his white hair that was currently in shampoo-induced ringlets that was shaking its tail in happiness. As he did so, he swirled the water around, managing to splash Naruto again. "I'm a horsie!" Saru announced after he thought for a moment.

"Horsie?" Naruto asked, grinning.

Saru nodded seriously, as if as Atlas he had decided snowboarding would likely result in the death of the world… so he chose skiing instead. "Horsie's have tails." He said, explaining his reasoning.

"What about a puppy? Or a doggie? Or a foxie?" Naruto asked. "They all have tails."

His eyes widened in shock as he contemplated this. "Tailsies." He sighed. "Squwirlies and tadpolies and turtlies…" Saru smiled up at her. "And monkies!"

Naruto nodded. "Monkeys too, Saru-ouji. Are you a monkey?" She asked, glad she had managed to confuse him enough that she could finish her job.

Saru brought his hand up to his chin in a thinking pose. "Why don't you know, Mommwie?" He asked her.

Naruto smiled. "Pick one." She told him, setting away the razor and shaving cream and picking up a bar of soap.

Saru frowned. "I am…" He tried to think again and created wrinkles on his three-year old forehead. "I am." He growled. "I…" Tears began to well up in his eyes. "I…"

"You're a turtle." Naruto decided.

"Yay!" Saru announced, so happy that he allowed Naruto to brush soap behind his ears without a fuss. He smiled. "When get I shell?" He asked, in the traditional child-ish language.

Naruto rolled her eyes. _Greeeaaat. Couldn't have just said 'Monkey', right Naruto? You had to say 'Turtle'! _She chided herself. _I wonder if Iruka-sensei will let me buy a turtle neck…_

"Shell?" Saru repeated.

"Sometimes turtles don't have shells." Naruto lied.

Saru accepted that. "No shell! Special turtle!" He declared.

"Yes you are. Very special." Naruto smiled at him.

"No like baths." Saru whispered as if he were sharing a grievous secret upon which the fate of the entire universe was placed.

Naruto leaned in toward him and whispered, "Neither do I."

Saru giggled.

* * *

"Hey, you guys ready?" Sakura called out to Naruto and Sasuke, who were approaching her from opposite directions. They had agreed to meet in front of the Hokage building twenty minutes before registration began. It was a mark of how their sensei was rubbing off on them that they all had arrived twenty minutes _after_ registration began.

"Why are _you_ late?" Sakura asked Sasuke, who was normally impeccable in his timing.

"I was attacked by monsters." Sasuke replied.

Naruto smirked. "Fangirls were waiting outside your house to wish you well in the exams?"

"Yes. If you happen to see any female of our village between the ages eight and fifteen, please hide me." Sasuke ordered.

"Why would I do that?" Naruto said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Because, secretly, in that cold heart of yours, you love me and you'll do whatever I say." He smirked.

"Oh, do I?" Naruto asked him, a wicked gleam in her eye. She turned around and screamed, "Main Street! In front of the Hokage Building! Sasuke Uch-"

Sasuke clamped his hand down on her mouth. "No, please, have mercy." He pleaded.

"Mercy?" Naruto began. "On an arrogant-"

"Can we register now and flirt later?" Sakura asked.

"Sure, does anyone have a pen?"

Sasuke and Sakura stared at Naruto, who was holding her unfinished form. "You didn't fill out your form?" Sakura sighed.

"I have a pencil." Sasuke informed her, holding out the writing utensil. Naruto held out her hand for it and Sasuke grabbed it, placing a quick kiss on her palm before dropping the pencil on it.

"Hey!" Naruto cried, blushing profusely as she pulled her hand away.

"Are you going to be like this throughout the exam?" Sakura growled, jealous and aggravated at the same time.

"No." Sasuke promised. "I'm just trying to get it out of my system now."

Naruto frowned at him. "Am I something to 'get out of your system'?" She asked, pouting.

Sasuke shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

"Whatever." The orange-clad ninja rolled her eyes. "Bend over."

"Huh?" Sudden images flashed into Sasuke's head from the book he'd read after stealing from Kakashi and he found himself holding back a nosebleed, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Bend over so I can write on your back." Naruto explained, slamming the form onto his spine so that he was forced to slouch. She began to write, and Sasuke sighed, suffering through the blow to his dignity only because it was Naruto.

"So, what do you think will be in the exams?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

Sasuke glared up at her. "I don't know, I told you that yesterday."

"I'm just trying to make conversation." Sakura crossed her arms. "No need to be cruel.

"You're not the one being used as a human table." Sasuke grumbled.

"How do you spell 'Konohagakure'?" Naruto asked.

Sakura stared, exclaiming, "How can you grow up here and not know that?"

"I know how to spell 'Konoha' but not 'Konohagakure'" The orange-clad ninja explained.

Sasuke spelled it for her, mentally berating himself for becoming Naruto's human dictionary and table. He wondered if he was acting too desperate… maybe he should pull back a bit? The talk he'd had with Kakashi hadn't exactly been useful for that type of thing… Actually, he'd run away halfway threw and attempted to light the man on fire, but it was the most humiliating conversation he'd had with another person in his life.

"Thanks, Sasuke-kun!" Naruto smiled. "I'm done!" She triumphantly waved the paper over her head, but Sakura snatched it from her hands.

"Good, not we can regist…" Sakura paused, glancing at the paper. "Naruto, you spelled your own last name wrong!" She cried out in confusion.

"Whatever."

"'Naruto Uzimiki'?" Sakura read out loud.

"I'm not good at Kanji and Sasuke-kun isn't exactly the smoothest surface to write on!" Naruto defended herself.

_Is that an insult? _Sasuke wondered.

Sakura offered, "Let me just edit-"

"No! I'll do it!" Naruto grabbed the paper out of Sakura's hands, and dropped to the floor, using the pavement as a writing surface. When she was done, she stood up with a flourish and handed the paper to Sakura with a satisfied air about her. "There. Perfect."

"Your handwriting is chicken scratch."

Naruto fumed.

* * *

Sakura handed the ninja at the gate their papers and she entered, shivering with excitement and anticipation. The guard, a Konoha ninja, glared at Naruto as she walked by, but the orange-clad ninja didn't even notice. Sasuke, however, saw it, and glared back at the man with spinning Sharingan eyes, causing the guard to start. He'd noticed for a long time that people tended to glare or whisper around Naruto, and he wasn't simple enough that he didn't know that it had something to do with the strange ability Naruto had. But he still found it entertaining to glare back at them, especially since he knew she wouldn't.

Needless to say, he did glare at anyone who just looked at her, even if it was hostile or just an idle glance.

"Well, we're here!" Naruto announced.

"Quiet!" Sakura hissed in the girl's ear. "Remember, sensei told us not to drag attention to ourselves."

"Kinda hard to do when we're the only cell with two girls, a guy with a bloodline, a girl with pink hair, and a girl dressed in orange." Naruto realized.

Sakura rolled her eyes, while Sasuke smiled at her. The three ninja made their way down a hallway that contained only another group of ninja they had never seen before, but were wearing Konoha symbols.

Naruto wondered whether the spooky lighting was for special effect or if she was just nervous.

When the three genin walked by the group of ninja they'd never seen before, they heard a small snippet of their conversation.

"…I am a Jonin, and 'cause some stupid genin forgot to put up these damn signs, now I fucking have to do it!" One of them yelled.

Knowing that putting up the signs was supposed to have been their mission, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura walked as fast as they could past the other Konoha ninja.

"Where did the guy at the front say the first part of the exam was?" Naruto asked Sakura.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "He didn't, it was on the form you didn't read. Third floor, room three-hundred and five."

"Cool."

The group made their way to the stairs. As they entered the room so did another ninja team, bearing three scratch marks on their headbands. Two of them seemed dazed, and the other was merely furious. "Stupid third floor!" The furious one growled, stomping off. "It's just like Konoha to make everything impossible!"

Naruto snorted once they'd trudged out of listening distance. "Who can't find a third floor?" She wondered.

"Who can't spell their last name correctly?" Sakura countered.

_Who cares about 'Uzumaki'? 'Uchiha' is going to… _Sasuke smirked as his thoughts progressed, until he realized that Naruto had begun calling Sakura 'Billboard Brow' and Sakura was calling Naruto the 'Fatty Bimbo' again, and they were about to kill each other.

"There's probably a genjutsu!" He said, stepping in between the two girls who were about to punch each other. Sakura immediately squeaked and pulled her hand away, but Naruto merely slowed down, and, grinned, punched Sasuke in the stomach, albeit with less force. Sasuke glared at her, and Naruto stuck out her tongue. "I was…" He flinched, "_saying _that there's probably a genjutsu set up to hide the third floor. I'll lead with the Sharingan, and you two do whatever I say. Understood?"

"Aye, aye, capitan!" Naruto saluted.

Sakura rolled her eyes at Naruto's antics, but the truth was that the orange-clad ninja was wearing away at the building tension.

A tension which suddenly exploded with the cry of, "Sasuke Uchiha-san! I challenge you with the powers of youth to a duel!"

The three turned around quickly, Sakura grabbing a summoning scroll filled with shuriken while Sasuke activated his Sharingan, even as Naruto jumped in front of Sasuke to repel any oncoming attacks. Sasuke frowned, and stepped in front of the orange-clad genin, forgetting their opponent for a moment as he contemplated why Naruto's first instinct was to jump in front of him.

"You! I am Rock Lee!" A boy dressed exactly as Maito Gai had been shouted, pointing at Sasuke, his fingers inches from Sasuke's nose.

Sasuke glared up at him.

"Oh my Kami." Naruto whispered in horror. "It's Gai-sensei's child."

Rock Lee appeared overjoyed at this assumption, but both Sakura and Sasuke gagged.

"I wish to challenge you, Sasuke Uchiha-san, to a battle in order to impress the lovely female ninja beside you!" Rock Lee announced, smiling broadly. "And to prove that a bloodline is no match for hard work and perseverance! Yosh!"

Naruto whimpered, not sure whether to laugh or to be creeped out. "There are two of them…" She whispered.

Sasuke glared at him, saying in a calm, monotonous voice, "You will be _impressing_ any one, because I will not be fighting you." He dispelled his Sharingan, turning away from the strange genin.

"No! I am the student of the Green Beast of Konoha! Rival to the prodigy of the Hyuuga Clan, a bloodline stronger than that of the Uchiha's, so you will fight me and be defeated!" Rock Lee declared, while giving an 'okay' hand sign to the two kunoichi as he smiled brilliantly.

"There is _no _bloodline _stronger _than the Sharingan, you arrogant little freak." Sasuke hissed, his Sharingan activating on its own in response to his sudden burst of anger.

"Yosh!" The strange genin declared. "Beautiful girl, watch as I defeat this young prodigy through the power of youth!"

"Who are you talking to?" Sakura asked.

Rock Lee paused for a moment, contemplating it even under the crippling gaze of an enraged Sharingan user. He looked from Sakura to Naruto, completely unsure.

Discreetly, both girls pointed to the other, trying to get the strange boy to declare that he was in love with the other girl.

"Aha!" Rock Lee said as both Naruto and Sakura grinned in triumph. "You, lovely cherry blossom! For you are the most beautiful girl in all the ninja nations!"

"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Ah!" Sakura cried as the strange genin took her hand and knelt in front of her.

"I am Rock Lee! And I shall impress you through my amazing ninja skills as I defeat Sasuke Uchiha-san!" Rock Lee yelled. All three of the genin could practically see hearts floating from Rock Lee's eyes, and they shivered.

"Is _this _the genjutus?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke, her lips just inches from his ear, unknowingly causing a faint blush to spread onto the normally stoic Uchiha's face.

"No. He's just a freak." Sasuke replied.

"No! Yosh!" Rock Lee shouted, letting go of Sakura's hand and jumping into a fighting position. "I will not fail the most beautiful, smartest, most talented, amazing kunoichi in the world!"

Sakura flushed, but the rest of her skin was a contrasting pallor. "Go away." She growled, but the strange genin ignored it.

Sasuke cracked his knuckles. _First, he insults my bloodline, then, he insults Naruto. I am going to kill him. _He thought vehemently. "Well, you're likely used to self-caused calamity, so let's nor break a long standing tradition of faux pas and ninja inadequacy, shall we?" He hissed.

Rock Lee and Naruto both blanked, not understanding many of the words Sasuke had just said.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and for Naruto's sake said, "You're likely used to _disasters that you cause _so let's not break a long standing tradition of _social failure or social misfortune _and a _lack of fighting skills_." He translated.

"Aha!" Rock Lee shouted. "Your calamity is not faux pas and I am not inadequate!"

"That does not make since, you idiot."

Rock Lee, in response, charged Sasuke, attempting to take him down with an easy right hook. He was so fast that without the Sharingan Sasuke would have lost, but he managed to dodge in time and throw his elbow at Rock Lee's back as he pivoted around.

His elbow connected, but Rock Lee went so fast that it barely grazed him. Rock Lee turned around so that they were facing each other, set a taijutsu stance where one arm was at his back and the other in front of his face.

Sasuke glared at him and rushed at him. He shot his fist out right where Rock Lee's face was, but the strange genin suddenly blinked out of sight. Sasuke continued for a moment, stumbling slightly as his fist didn't come into contact with anything, and his Sharingan memory conjured up an image of the strange genin dodging to the right faster than should have been humanly possible. He turned around quickly, his eyes scanning the entire room in a quick second only to see the strange genin just before his fist connected with Sasuke's jaw.

Naruto gasped, and jumped toward the two boys, instantly ready to come in between them, but Sakura grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Let me go!" Naruto yelled.

Sakura shook her head. "If you try and save Sasuke-kun, do you link he'll like it?"

Naruto bared her teeth at Sakura and let out a feral growl. "The stupid 'Lee-person' is just trying to impress you, who cares? Let me stop them before Sasuke-kun gets hurt!"

"Sasuke-kun can fight his own battles! And he's trying to impress you, he doesn't want to be saved! If you don't have any faith in Sasuke-kun's own fighting abilities then go and step in, but you can rest assured that he won't be happy about it!" Sakura hissed.

The orange-clad genin glared at her, and ripped her arm out of Sakura's grip, but she didn't jump in the fight. A combination of nerves and adrenaline built up in her chest, and she tugged on her braid, nearly ripping her hair out, as she watched the fight.

Sasuke was looking around, startled, when suddenly Rock Lee blinked into existence above him, swinging his leg out around the Uchiha's head. Sasuke dodged, but Rock Lee fell to the ground, taking another swirling kick, this time aimed at Sasuke's legs, and the raven jumped out of the way, forming a hand seal even as Rock Lee brought two fingers up to his nose.

Just as Sasuke was forming another hand seal to use one of his fire jutsu, Rock Lee punched in one direction in an extremely convincing feint as he brought his leg around for a surprise kick that connected with Sasuke's cheek.

There was so much power in that kick that Sasuke flipped into the air, flying for a long moment before he slammed into the ground on his upper back, sliding until he reached the wall, yards away from the point of impact and curled in a fetal position, lying still.

Naruto groaned loudly as she gripped the doorframe with one hand, trying to keep herself from jumping into the fight.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out loudly, not realizing that she was actually motivating the strange genin as she did so.

Sasuke's form twitched and he forced himself up to his knees. He looked under his arm at Rock Lee and his gaze switched from suppressed pain to pure loathing.

He shakily stood up, and his Sharingan eyes began to swirl.

Seeing him being so brave, and looking so cool with his active bloodline, Sakura practically swooned right where she was, and she grabbed Naruto's arm, shaking her. "Isn't Sasuke-kun so cool?" She cried.

Naruto tried to smile, but it came out as an extremely pained look and her grip on the door frame tightened considerably as the two Shinobi glared angrily at each other. She was suppressing a protective instinct so strong that pointed, animal like nails dug into the doorframe, ripping apart wood.

Sakura, however, giggled with apprehension, excited to watch the rest of the fight that was torturing Naruto.

Unable to stand just glaring at each other, Sasuke let out a loud, wordless battle cry, and charged toward Rock Lee.

In an instant, none of them being able to see him move, Rock Lee disappeared and his leg connected with Sasuke's chin, propelling the Uchiha into the air.

While he was still flying, Rock Lee grinned at him, declaring, "You are not the one I want to fight, but I will cherish the defeat of you!"

Sasuke managed to get control as he was still in the air, and he landed easily, not at all harmed from the move except for a dully aching chin.

This time, Rock Lee charged him, and, warding off an aching in his head, the two began trading blows at such a speed that Sakura couldn't even catch up. Naruto, however, saw every block and hit threw red, slitted eyes.

Rock Lee blocked a poorly aimed punch to his head by pulling it upward, and with his other hand punched Sasuke in the stomach with such force that the Uchiha gasped in pain and was forced to fight off a rising bile. He shook in pain, but glared at Rock Lee. The strange genin, however, merely smiled and jumped up, disappearing and then reappearing behind the Uchiha.

"You should give up now, it will save you much dignity in front of you're cherry blossom teammate. What is her name?" Rock Lee advised.

"Her name _is _'Sakura', you idiot!" Sasuke spat, turning around with the plan of punching the green ninja, but Rock Lee's sandals again harshly connected with Sasuke's chin, and this time, as the raven was flying threw the air, Rock Lee blinked out of existence and reappeared in the air behind Sasuke.

"I thank you!" Rock Lee yelled as he flexed his forearm in a controlled manner, releasing the bindings on his arms which began to whip around in circles. "And now, I will show you that hard work beats unnatural talent!"

Sasuke's eyes widened with adrenaline, realizing that he was completely in his enemy's power.

The bindings began to fly around them, one snaking up by Sasuke's head.

A pink, paper, windmill flew in between the two soaring ninja, pinning the bindings against the wall.

"What?" Sakura turned, angry that someone had stopped the fight.

Everyone, even the people still flying in the air, had their attention drawn to a turtle with a Konoha headband that was standing by the door.

"Lee-kun!" Said the turtle. "Using _that _technique in a friendly fight? I am ashamed!"

Rock Lee changed his direction, controlling his fall so that he fell to the floor immediately. He twirled in the air, holding onto the loose binding until he landed.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out as the Uchiha continued to fall to the ground.

She took a step toward Sasuke, but Naruto was faster. The orange-clad genin propelled herself off the wall, snatching the falling raven out of the air before he was yards from the ground, hugging him to her chest as they landed.

Blushing profusely from embarrassment and his position, Sasuke pushed himself out of her grip quickly, sitting down on the floor. Naruto glared at him, but her attention snapped to the strange genin and the giant turtle, even as Sasuke stared at a random point on the wall, realizing with terror that he had just lost.

Sakura ran to Sasuke, asking fervently if he was alright, but the Uchiha didn't answer her. His gaze was fixed on the floor, glaring at it with venom.

The strange genin knelt in front of the turtle, and the turtle frowned at the strange genin.

Sasuke lifted his gaze, staring with unadulterated hatred at the back of Rock Lee's neck.

"I… I am sorry." Rock Lee confessed to the turtle. "I should not have challenged him, nor used that attack. The blame for this fight belongs to me."

Naruto stood up, and she stepped toward the strange ninja, drawing the terrified eyes of the Uchiha to her.

_I lost the fight… _Sasuke thought, panicking as he watched Naruto walk over to the strange genin. _Oh, Kami. I lost the fight in FRONT OF NARUTO! _He turned his gaze back to Rock Lee, and if it was possible to look at someone and somehow manage to say 'You are the scum of the Earth, a monster, a freak, of no more worth than the dirt beneath my feet and I am going to kill you no matter what it takes' with a simple gaze, he did.

"Yes, Rock Lee! You should not have done that! I am very disappointed in you, my favorite student! How could you let me down this way?" The turtle cried.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I was trying to impress Sakura-chan, and I got carried away! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Rock Lee cried out, terrified of the turtle.

_Freak… _Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all thought at once.

The turtle disappeared in a cloud of smoke, revealing the freakiest thing Konoha had to offer. Maito Gai. "Lee," Gai said, "I can't believe you did this. I am very disappointed in you."

"**Yo**u'v**e s**aid t**hat al**r**e**ad**y! Mayb**e **you sh**ould **tell hi**m tha**t if w**e **e**v**e**r **fi**gh**t** **i**n **the** ex**ams I **wi**ll **ki**ll him!**" Naruto growled, her voice shifting into something resembling that of a ferocious growl.

Gai's expression turned to one of disappointment to one of astonishment as he looked at Naruto, who was glaring at Lee with red eyes, claw-like finger nails, and absolute loathing. "Duly noted." Gai said calmly. "It is nice to see you again; I apologize for my student's actions. Please excuse us." He put his hand on Rock Lee's shoulder, and the strange genin stared curiously at Naruto as his sensei led him away.

* * *

Sasuke stared at the water, pouring from the water fountain, instead of looking at his orange-clad teammate, who was trying her hardest to make eye contact.

Naruto dipped the cloth into the water, rubbed soap on it, and pressed the damp cloth against Sasuke's chin, rubbing out the bruise tenderly, even as she ignored Sakura's indignant stares.

The pink-haired ninja was likely upset that Naruto had taken her cloth and stolen her golden opportunity to take care of Sasuke, but one look at her furious eyes, which seemed red, and Sakura relented.

Sasuke didn't say anything; just let Naruto wash his injuries. She frowned, and then turned to Sakura.

"Can you get a medic nin to fix this cut? He shouldn't go into the exams already bleeding." Naruto asked Sakura, smiling.

Sakura nodded, and grudgingly left the two alone, taking out her anger on a random ninja she saw by kicking him in the shins before taking off. The ninja stared after her, rubbing his bruised shin angrily, before stalking off, mumbling something about 'stupid Konoha kunoichi'.

Once Sakura and the ninja who had unluckily been passing by were gone, Naruto turned to Sasuke, who still wasn't looking at her, and slapped him across the face.

"What the…" Sasuke rubbed his stinging cheek, glaring at her. "Why'd you do that?" He growled.

"You couldn't be more of an idiot!" Naruto exclaimed. "Next time, think about what you're _doing _before you accept a duel! You deserved to have been beaten into the ground for that!"

"Thanks." Sasuke hissed. "Next time I accept a duel because someone insulted my family I'll make sure to get beaten to a pulp."

Naruto's gaze softened, and her hand lightly brushed against the cheek with the red hand mark. "Sasuke-kun, I don't like it when you get hurt." She confessed. Sasuke's heart leapt, but she ruined it by saying, "You're my teammate, and I'll do anything for you _but _watch you fight a needless battle all by yourself."

"You proved that by stepping in and threatening that 'Rock Lee' kid. I don't need to be saved by a girl!" Sasuke growled.

"Well, it didn't seem that way, did it?" Naruto countered, glaring back at him.

He dropped his gaze, ripped the cloth out of her hand and began cleaning his own bruises, but Naruto grabbed his wrist, stopping him. "Sasuke," she sighed, "I do like you, and I don't want you to get hurt again."

Sasuke's eyes met hers again, and he nearly jumped at the sympathy and concern in her azure eyes. "Sorry." He confessed, leaning in closer to her so that their noses touched.

Naruto's eyes flickered shut and she relaxed, even at their closeness. "At least you had a good reason." She said, nervous as his hot breath caressed her face.

"Well, I did lose." Sasuke grumbled, turning his face away out of shame. Naruto, however, gently touched his face, turning it back so that their faces were right next to each other.

"That's because I wasn't there." Naruto explained. "If I was, we'd have put him in a wheelchair."

"Together?" Sasuke asked, leaning closer so that their lips were millimeters apart.

She moved slightly forward so that her lips brushed against his as she said, "Together. A team."

"Hn." Sasuke agreed, reaching up with his hands to pull her close to share a passionate kiss.

"I found a medic nin!" Sakura cried out, disrupting the entire moment, causing the two to flush and jump out of their embrace.

* * *

_The drastic flaw of the Chuunin Exams,_ Naruto realized, _is the fact that there are far too many kunoichi. They should make a rule that only kunoichi with boyfriends can participate, or any kunoichi who has the psychotic possibility of falling into a fangirl like mind-set should be relieved of duty and locked in a deep, dark hole thousands of miles under the ocean to drown. _

_ And Sasuke should wear a mask, like Kakashi-sensei, but a mask that covers his eyes. Especially the Sharingan. _

_ Is that why Kakashi-sensei wears a mask? _

Sasuke sat down on a bench in between his teammates, finally dispelling the Sharingan after he deemed that everything was safe and there was no more genjutsu, although the one for the third floor had been extremely simple and he probably didn't even need the Sharingan to see it.

Ino, however, made her way up to them with doe-like enamored eyes, and squeezed herself in between Sakura and Sasuke, to place her head on Sasuke's shoulder. "You activated the Sharingan?" She asked, tracing her finger across his jaw line. "I didn't know that."

"Go away, Ino-pig!" Sakura growled at her, but Ino merely stuck out her tongue at the pink-haired girl.

Naruto had been momentarily distracted by the fourteen other female ninja he were eyeing Sasuke with interest as his Sharingan was activated, but she turned back a reality sadly devoid of fangirls with their hair on fire.

She glared at Sasuke, who wasn't looking at her and trying to pull his arm out of Ino's grasp. "Let go of him, conduct yourself like a kunoichi!" Naruto hissed at the pale-eyed girl.

Sasuke could barely suppress a grin as he heard Naruto come to his defense, but he managed to keep a stoic demeanor.

"Oh, _come on_, Pudgy-chan." Ino rolled her eyes. "The exam hasn't even started yet. And Sasuke-kun likes it, doesn't he?" She purred.

"No. I don't." Sasuke informed her.

Ino just ignored that. "Can you show me the Sharingan again?" She asked.

"No."

"Pleeease."

"No."

"Pweeeze?"

"No."

"Can you stop acting like a three-year old trying to get a cookie from his mother?" Naruto glared at her. Ino had actually managed to remind her of Saru, and even though it had been less than an hour since Naruto had dropped the youngest Uzumaki off at daycare, she was already starting to miss him. Plus, it was disturbing to see 'Pweeeze', Saru's favorite word, coming out of the mouth of one of her least liked people.

Ino countered by sticking her tongue out at Naruto, like she'd done with Sakura.

The orange-clad kunoichi saw that, fumed for a moment, and then smirked. She smiled brightly at Sasuke, grabbed his other arm, and said, "You activated the Sharingan?" Then she traced a finger across his jaw line. "I didn't know that."

She completely repeated Ino's previous action, with one difference. Sasuke's face immediately flushed and he turned redder than Sakura's ninja-dress.

Ino blanched. "What?" She hissed.

"Well, now that we've established that, who wants to let go of the Uchiha and have a normal conversation like civilized people?" Naruto asked, small corners of her eyes announcing a barely distinguishable threat.

Ino let go of Sasuke grudgingly, staring angrily at Sasuke's blushing face, and Naruto copied her, also letting go of Sasuke.

Shikamaru shook his head slowly, sighing to Choji, "What is it about that Uchiha kid?"

Choji shrugged, crunching a barbeque chip as he said, "I kinda feel bad for him."

"Sorry for him? He has a million girls doting after him." Shikamaru reminded Choji, glaring at the back of his female teammate's head as she ignored her comrades in favor of trying to seduce Sasuke and annoy Sakura, the former not working in the slightest.

"Yeah, but Naruto's the only girl he likes, and she refuses to like him." Choji pointed out.

Shikamaru nodded, realizing that that should have been his observation. "Well, maybe I'm jealous, if I had a girl totally in love with me, I wouldn't just shove her off like he does with his fanclub. A guy can be nice in his rejections." He closed his eyes, leaning against a wall. "I do remember him telling Naruto he was going to date her. He was kinda a jerk about it, but she didn't seem to mind."

"Yeah, he freaked out when she was unconscious." Choji said.

"Who freaked out?" Kiba asked, appearing behind the two after catching a snippet of their information and deducing it interesting. "What are we talking about?"

Shikamaru blinked in surprise. "I think we're gossiping." He said in horror.

Kiba chuckled. "Really?" He asked. "What is making you two gossip?"

Choji shrugged, took a mouthful of barbeque chips and said something completely unintelligible.

"What?" Kiba stared at him.

The Akimichi looked at Kiba as if he was an idiot, swallowed the chips after chewing a bit, and then said, "Ino-chan and Sakura-chan are still fawning over Sasuke-kun, even though Sasuke-kun likes Naruto-chan, but Naruto-chan likes him and won't admit it for some reason."

The dog boy frowned for a moment, as he thought, and then, drawing to a conclusion, laughed. "Poor Sasuke, eh?" He howled.

"Keep your voice down. It's ostentatious." Shikamaru grumbled.

"I told you!" Choji yelled to Shikamaru, who groaned and turned around so that he was facing the wall, and proceeded to pound his head against it twice before sitting down on the floor to catch a nap.

"I'm not talking about that!" Kiba said slyly, "Naruto-chan beat _you _in an eating contest, Choji-kun!" The dog boy grinned.

The large genin pouted. "Yeah, but that was when she was _really _big, remember? And we were eating pickles and refried beans. Pickles and refried beans are disgusting." He gagged, and then ate a barbeque chip to cure himself of the sensation.

"Hey, look, Sakura-chan and Ino-chan are fighting."

"When are the exams going to-" Choji began, but he was interrupted by the arrival of a grey-haired ninja, about the age of twenty.

"Well," the grey-haired ninja said. "You all seem to get along." Kabuto smiled, his eyes briefly shifting to Sasuke. "Bet I could show you a very interesting card trick."


	11. Chapter 11

**Closed polls. Felt like it. Thanks for the input. **

**Argh… too much research for pointless things everyone is going to skip over anyway…**

**Sorry that this one is a lot later than usual, Saturdays are typically the day I write 10-12 pages, and I sort of missed Saturday this week… (vacation, fun! ****) Don't worry, I'm still posting! **

* * *

"Card trick?" Kiba asked, mildly interested. "Everyone knows how to do that! You just put a tiny bit of chakra on the card that they pick!"

"Not that kind of card trick." Kabuto smiled. He glanced around the room pointedly, smirking. "Pick a person. Anyone you see. Even some you don't see, but they have to be a ninja."

Shikamaru, curious, said, "Sasuke Uchiha."

Kaburo snorted. "You know his name? Far too easy." He pulled out a deck of cards, shuffled it a bit, and then fanned the cards out in front of him. "Pick a card." He ordered.

Choji grabbed one and his eyes widened. "Hey look! It's Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked up from where he'd been watching Ino and Sakura punching each other while trying to keep from laughing at them. "What?" He asked.

Choji held out the card and gave it to him.

" 'Serial number… Birthday, July 23, age 13, Height… Weight… Bloodtype… Graduation age 13… Mission Stat… Zero SS, Zero S, One A, no B, Three C, Thirty-four D… Techniques… Sharingan and fire jutsu.'" Sasuke said, taking the card and reading it out loud. He blinked. "What?"

"They're ninja info cards. Every ninja has to fill out a registration, and this is it. With… some updated information. Try it out. Pick someone else." Kabuto said, taking Sasuke's card and shuffling it back into the deck.

By now, Kabuto had grown a large group of people, mainly the Konoha rookies, but a few ninja from other villages besides.

Sasuke didn't even have to think, he immediately said, "Rock Lee, Konoha."

At the same time, Sakura also said, "Gaara, the red haired ninja."

Kankuro, who had been listening in, heard Gaara's name, and then said, "That blonde girl with the whiskers."

"Hey!" Naruto growled at him.

Kankuro shrugged. "What?" He said, "I forgot your name."

Kabuto held three cards out in front of him, each with a picture of a different genin. "Well, how embarrassing. Looks like I'm missing some info. Strange…" He smirked, "That rarely happens."

_Rock Lee: Born November 27; Age 14; Height 5"2'; Weight (uses weights for training, undeterminable); Bloodtype A; Graduation Age 12; Mission Stat 0 SS, 0 S, 0 A, 0 B, 8 C, 187 D; Techniques, no chakra. Taijutsu specialized._

_ Gaara no Sabaku: Born _; Age _, Height 4.73 ft; Weight 39 kg; Bloodtype _; Graduation Age 4; Mission Stat 0 SS, 5 S, 27 A, 33 B, 34 C, 0 D; Techniques, sand manipulation, _._

_ Naruto Uzumaki: Born _, Age _, Height 4.76 ft; Weight 40 kg; Bloodtype _ALL_; Mission Stat 0 Ss, 0 S, 2 A, 0 B, 3 C, 34 D; Techniques, kage bunshin, _._

Although Sasuke's original plan had been to lean more about Rock Lee, he nearly jumped when he saw that Naruto had two A rank missions, before it finally registered that the Gaara ninja had four S-rank missions and _27_ A-rank.

"So, how come you act so surprised?" Shikamaru asked Kabuto, "Isn't it normal to have the occasional fact missing?"

Kabuto shook his head. "Not unless the village is purposely keeping someone a secret." He informed them wisely. "Here, pick another card."

Choji said his own name. Kabuto lifted an eyebrow incredulously at the large genin, but consented.

Naruto, however, had learned an interesting fact about herself. "I didn't know I had every bloodtype." She whispered to Sasuke.

"How do you have two A-rank missions?" Sasuke asked her in an equal whisper.

She gulped, bit her lip, and hesitated for a long moment. "When… the… stole the scroll-"

"I understand." Sasuke cut her off.

"Thanks." Naruto smiled at him.

"Weird." Sasuke said quickly.

"Huh?"

"Why would he have this information? Is he some kind of spy?" Sasuke wondered.

Naruto smiled at him. "You're paranoid, Uchiha-boy."

"Never denied it."

"You should."

"Why?"

"I-"

"The exams are starting! Please make your way into this room, take a seat at least three seats or one table away from anyone else on your team!"

* * *

_Oh… My… Kami… _

_I… Am… Dead…_

_My… brain…hurts… so… much…_

Naruto sighed, resting her head in her arms as she glared at the paper in front of her. So far, she'd written a few words for maybe one or two problems, but other than that the paper in front of her was completely blank. Although… there was the doodle she'd drawn, but nine-tailed foxes made out of stick figures were nothing less than idiotic. Also, was the extremely bad representation of Ino with buck teeth and kunai sticking out of her chest, which was her current answer to question eight.

_Damn it! This is sooo hard!_

* * *

_Child's play._

_ What do they think we are, Genin or children?_

The red-haired jinchuuriki dispelled his sand eye, having completed all nine questions. Gaara snorted slightly, leaning back in his chair to rest his left hand comfortably on his gourd, feeling safer knowing that the sand was near. For some reason a sensation he had not felt in a long time had been clawing at his chest. He was… on edge. Nervous. Apprehensive. The moment he arrived in the village he could feel it… no… _sense _it. He could smell the feeling in every corner of the village, like a giant, ferocious predator had marked out it's territory and he was an invader. His gaze, as it traveled around the room, fell on the back of a blonde head. One that was currently lying down on a desk, apparently sleeping.

_Her? _He wondered. _Mother is sending me nervous feelings because of her? Why? _Nothing he'd noticed about her, so far, was threatening in any way. In fact, he wouldn't have even noticed her if it wasn't for the nerves,

_Curiouser and curiouser._

* * *

_This is fairly difficult, but not that hard. _

_ How long do we have left?_

Sasuke glanced at the clock, idly noting that the time was only slightly behind half-done. He sighed, leaning back as he dispelled his Sharingan. The person directly in front of him was obviously a fake. So far, he'd been writing the answers to his problems, erased them, and then written the exact same things again twice, and Sasuke had no doubt he'd do it again. It was almost like the person in front of him was set there purposely for him to cheat upon. Sasuke leaned back with a sigh, stretching slightly to mask his later action, which was gently massaging his forehead to relieve the growing pressure behind his eyes.

_Is this normal for the Sharingan?_

_ …Did Naruto fall asleep? _

* * *

Naruto woke up when the man in the front, Ibiki Morino, announced that the time was half-done and 'any of you idiots who haven't done anything past problem three should quit now'. Panicking, Naruto stared down at her paper. For problem one, she was fairly confident in her answer. For problem two, she was sure she'd get at least half-credit. For problem three, she'd drawn a baby with fox ears and a tail. Problem four was blank, as was problem five, problem six was a boy with a duck on his head, problem seven was the Sharingan, problem eight was Ino, albeit horrifically mutilated, and problem nine was three stick figures of nine-tailed foxes with a ball.

_Damn…_

* * *

Gaara blinked in surprise as he surveyed the blonde girl, Naruto Uzumaki,'s answers to the questions. Apparently, she gave up and started to doodle. The baby, he had no clue, the boy looked slightly, if he squinted, like the dark-haired boy he'd seen by her earlier, _Weren't those girls calling him… 'Suke Uhiha'? No… that's not-_

**Sasuke Uchiha. Watch him.**

_Thank you, Mother. _And the thing on problem seven… the Shukaku was giving him nervous feelings about that, so he assumed it was important, and he memorized the design. The answer to problem eight… looked very much like the girl he was sitting next to, without the kunai, buckteeth, beard, goatee, goat's feet, hunchback, and a word bubble saying 'I'm a freak! Buargh!'.

Problem nine, however, likely answered all of his questions. _A jinchuuriki… _He wondered, awed. Excluding one time a black-skinned person, with another, remarkably similar black-skinned person, had briefly connected eyes with him before a door was shut, blocking Gaara from an interview his father, the Kazekage, was having with a foreign Kage, Gaara had never met another jinchuuriki. That one, the black-skinned one, had caused him to touch the seal as well, and he walked around the village in a state of near panic, feeling like he was a territorial beast whose territory had been invaded, for three entire days.

And now, here was another jinchuuriki.

The _strongest _jinchuuriki.

Four yards and five feet away from him, the Nine-Tailed Fox was, wrapped up in a handy little seal.

Just like his own, the One-Tailed Raccoon.

* * *

_Damn it, Naruto! It's the San raion henkan o no Jutsu! The Mountain Lion Transformation Technique! Think! Think!_

Sasuke nearly slammed his head against the desk with the force of the mental messages he was attempting to send his blonde-haired teammate. _Five minutes! Five minutes! Just write it down! Problem one! It's the Mountain Lion Transformation Technique! You've got it wrong! GRAGH!_

Exasperated, Sasuke allowed himself to rest his head on the desk. _This is not what I thought when we were talking about 'teamwork' earlier… stupid written test…_

* * *

"…and, if you get problem ten wrong, you will fail, and not be allowed to ever take the exam again, being a genin forever, _as will the rest of your team_." Ibiki Morino said bluntly, glaring at the horrified genin in front of him.

Gaara glanced for a moment at Temari and Kankuro, but they had such determined looks on their faces that he knew he shouldn't have worried.

Sasuke glanced down at Naruto, who was chewing at her pencil absent-mindedly, and realized, despite how long it took her to answer the previous questions, and answer most wrong, she was still going to try, and the Uchiha glowed with pride as he smiled at her.

Naruto glanced at Sakura, who was a few chairs away from her, and the two girls locked eyes for a long moment. Naruto saw the panic in the pink-haired girl's eyes, and shook her head 'no'.

'I won't make it' Sakura mouthed.

Naruto opened her mouth quickly to speak, but then decided better. She held up a finger to tell Sakura 'one second', and then leaned over her paper, slipping it around so she could hold her pencil to the plank side.

A moment later, Naruto lifted up her paper, and, smiling, showed it to Sakura, who stared incredulously at it before bursting into giggled.

Someone snapped Naruto's paper out of her hands.

Naruto looked up to connect eyes with that of the impassive Ibiki Morino. "Next time you decide to cheat," Morino growled, "Don't be so obvious. You're team is out."

"No!" Naruto said, standing up indignantly, ignoring the snickers of all the other genin in the room. "That's not cheating, that's a doodle of you!"

The room grew silent, all of the genin instantly falling prey to the thing which vexes all the human population, undeniable curiosity.

Ibiki Morino looked at the paper in his hands impassively.

His face froze.

An eyebrow was lifted.

A corner of his mouth twitched.

"You drew a doodle of me, with a giant head and stick body, being devoured by sharks who are, for an unknown reason, in the hot springs, as I am surrounded by the word 'lies'." Ibiki Morino stated.

The giggles, which had previously been for Naruto's misfortune, were now for the proctor's embarrassment. "Wait!" Naruto cried out. "You forgot, see!" She tapped on the paper. "I also gave you a little hat!"

The hardened interrogator glared at the blonde haired-girl. "And you also doodled a drawing as your answers to questions three, problem six, problem seven, problem eight, and problem nine."

"I answered the rest. And I sorta squeezed in an answer by number seven." Naruto informed him.

The terrific, building tension that Ibiki Morino had worked so hard to create evaporated as nearly half of the genin class erupted into laughter. "Damn it." The interrogator growled. He slammed the paper down on Naruto's desk. "Whatever, it's Anko's problem now. You all pass."

"What?"

Ibiki Morino straightened up, preparing to deliver the short speech he had prepared, "Now that-"

"ANKO MITARASHI HAS ARRIVED, YOU MAGGOTS!"

_I need a drink. _Ibiki Morino thought cynically.

* * *

"So! By the time I'm done with you, half of you will be gone! Over half, actually!"

The genin, standing in front of a huge gate bearing the words 'Forest of Death, Keep Out!', were impressed. After all, a crazy, purple haired-woman was standing in front of a place with 'Death' in it's name, telling then that half of them were going to be gone.

"I am Anko, the exam proctor!" The purple-haired ninja shouted. "This is how this will work, there are two scrolls, a heaven scroll and an earth scroll, there will be an even number of scrolls distributed throughout each team, but you only get one. To pass, you need to have both scrolls and make your way to the large building at the center of the forest. We'll have some people monitoring the exams to remove any bodies, and you _can _kill your opponents but it's not recommended and likely will bode ill for you later."

Leaning closer to Sasuke, Naruto whispered, "I bet we get a heaven scroll, you?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but complied, "I'll take earth. What does the winner get?"

"Ramen."

"That's a terrible prize."

"Ramen is a wonderful prize."

"…Fine. Ramen. Whatever."

Ank continued her speech, saying, "Here are some consent forms you need to fill out, because some of you may die, and we don't want to have to pay money to your village. The exam has a time limit of five days, a team that that cannot bring both scrolls and all three teammates to the tower fails, a team that has a dead teammate or a mortally wounded teammate also fails, and you are not allowed to look inside the scrolls until you reach the tower. Got that?"

A girl from a village Naruto couldn't place raised her hand and asked, "Do people normally die in this exam?"

Anko didn't answer her.

* * *

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto, upon entering the forest, immediately ducked to the side, since Sasuke surmised that the other teams would immediately rush into the center and it would be best to wait out the first confrontation. Sitting down against a few trees, Sasuke took the position of command in front of his two teammates and he handed the heaven scroll to Sakura.

"Huh? Shouldn't you keep this?" Sakura asked, confused, but she accepted the scroll anyway.

"No. Any enemy would expect me to have the scroll, and Naruto's a close range fighter, so if we gave her the scroll and she fought the enemy it would be incredibly… stupid." Sasuke explained. "Besides, your job is to set up traps when the enemy comes near and, if you have to, fight their female team member."

Sakura snorted. "Oh, _I'm _of course the one who has to fight the girl, because I'm the weakest?"

"Yes. Naruto is physically stronger than you are, and I am the strongest on this team-" Sasuke explained, but he was interrupted by an indignant shout from Naruto. Glaring at the blonde girl, he explained, "And sensei made me the leader in his absence."

"I'm stronger than you!" Naruto demanded.

"I'm male." Sasuke informed her. "It's the stronger gender."

The orange-clad ninja wrinkled her nose and snorted. "Riiight." She rolled her eyes, "I could take you anytime."

Sasuke glared at her. "This is not the time for arguing against facts. We're in the middle of the Forest of Death."

"Women can be stronger then men!" Naruto continued, unfazed.

"No, they can't. Not unless they're gigantic body builders. A woman's frame is more petit than a man's; in a straight out contest of strength a man will beat a woman every time. And your frame is very feminine; you wouldn't be able to beat me." Sasuke said, trying to win using logic even as he prayed this wouldn't turn out into an arm wrestling match.

"Is that an insult?" Naruto yelled.

"It's a compliment!" Sasuke yelled back.

Sakura shook her head. "You two argue like an old married couple."

Her comment effectively killed the argument, Naruto blushed bright red and a distant, genuine smile slipped over Sasuke's features as he began to daydream.

When Sakura realized that both Sasuke and Naruto had completely spaced out, she sighed, brought her left hand up to her mouth, and whistled shrilly. Before she could get out of breath, Sasuke rushed over to her and pulled her fingers out of her mouth. "Dammit!" He cried out, "What were you thinking? You just told everyone where we are!"

Sakura placed her hands on her hips angrily. "Well then, we'd better start moving then, instead of daydreaming about our honeymoons, shouldn't we?"

Her second comment again hit its mark as Sasuke turned bright purple. "I was not…" He mumbled, protesting futily.

Naruto saw that, and glared at him. "You were thinking about _what_?" She demanded, enraged yet slightly flattered.

"Let's move." Sasuke commanded, turning to jump through the forest.

Giggling, Sakura followed him and dragged Naruto, who hadn't moved, along with her.

* * *

Ducking into a cave that was concealed with a collection of bramble from nearby trees, Sasuke tolerated the light scratches to his face as he inspected the opening with his Sharingan. He placed a light, untraceable genjutsu to hide the entrance to the cave, before ducking back into it to rejoin Sakura and Naruto. Naruto was burying their spare weapons and food packets, while Sakura was rearranging their packs.

Frightened, Sakura looked up at Sasuke, who halted at her fearful expression. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

"Someone must have stolen my medicine pack, I can't find it!" Sakura hissed, paranoia setting in and she stared at the entrance to the cave.

"Didn't sensei give you those medic scrolls? You said you memorized the jutsu." Sasuke reminded her.

Sakura nodded, "Yes, but we don't have any bandages… or anything! I'm not good enough to-"

"Stop it. You're good enough, end of discussion." Sasuke declared.

Sakura looked into his black, cool eyes and her fear melted away for a moment. "Okay, Sasuke-kun." She whispered, smiling slightly as he hesitated to turn away.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as he realized that the pink-haired girl had not yet gotten over her obsession with him, he could literally see the adoration in her features and it stunned him. "Good." He said softly, turning away from her and feeling a wave of guilt crashing over him as he realized how she must have been feeling; exactly the way he felt when Naruto told him she didn't like him. The only difference was that Naruto was definitely warming up to him, and he could go as far as to say she liked him a lot, but he was never going to like Sakura that way, and she knew it.

Naruto watched the silent exchange with a frown on her face, and she noticed Sakura's look and recognized it immediately. However, when Sasuke turned away from Sakura and smiled faintly at her, she couldn't stop her heart from leaping with joy.

"All right." Sasuke said, trying to end the awkwardness. "Sakura, did you set up those silent alarms?"

"No." Sakura said quietly, staring blankly at the floor.

"Then go do it, but if you see or hear anything come back here. Naruto and I will go scouting for any enemies nearby, and we'll leave three shadow clones to watch the base." Sasuke commanded.

Sakura nodded, took a deep breath, and then left the cave to set up the silent alarms.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked quietly, stopping the raven as he was starting to leave the cave. He turned around to face her, giving her his full attention. "Um…" Naruto blushed. "I was kinda wondering… why are we setting up a base? Shouldn't we search for another team and then head straight for the tower?"

"No." Sasuke shook his head, and, in an even tone, explained. "The forest is in the village, even if it's on the edge, it's less than… sixteen hours walk across, which is eight hours to the tower, but only four to six hours if we hurry. The exam is a survival test, so other teams will likely be setting up bases too, we don't need to hurry until the fourth or fifth day, and by then all the other teams will be heading toward the tower as well, so we'll have more chance to fight. I'd prefer we get a scroll by finding an enemy's base and attacking it when they least expect it, and then make our way to the tower using stealth."

Naruto frowned. "That seems unlike you. Wouldn't you rather hunt and find an enemy first, and then get it over with quickly?"

Sasuke looked away from her, and mumbled, "There's less chance of someone getting hurt this way."

"And by 'someone'… you mean me?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." The Uchiha confessed gruffly.

Naruto blushed heavily, but she masked it by turning her face away and making the three shadow clones to watch over the base. "Well, let's go scout, shall we?"

"Be careful." Sasuke told her. "If you weren't so bad at traps I would have made Sakura come scouting with me."

Naruto glared at him. "Why's that?"

"You're in orange."

"Oh. Right. I like orange."

"Doesn't mean it's stealthy, though."

"I'm not changing it. You're the one with white shorts and hair that looks like a chicken butt." Naruto informed him.

"What?" Sasuke exclaimed, unconsciously reaching up to touch his hair.

Naruto took his hand, and smiled at him. "Aw, don't worry. It's cute on you."

Sasuke glared at her and pulled his hand out of her grasp. "Let's just go."

" 'K."

* * *

Whispering quietly to each other, Sasuke and Naruto managed to navigate the treacherous, leech infested forest with little more than a small incident that had left a small set of teeth marks on Naruto's shoulder and wrist, which was already healing, and a dead leech carcass that had been stabbed six times and burned alive.

"I think I sense something over there." Sasuke informed Naruto, activating his Sharingan to sweep the forest to his left.

"I smell big cats. Like a tiger, but I think they're sleeping." Naruto told him.

Sasuke didn't say anything, accepting that, since Naruto had been using her nose to identify things for a while now, and he attributed it to her strange power so he didn't ask. "We should avoid that area, I think, according to the map, that it's the fields to the left. The left side of the forest is filled with clearings, while the right is mostly forest and a long river snakes around the entire thing. The forest gives more cover, so I doubt many teams will be there."

Naruto nodded, agreeing. "We should go right then, 'cept for that one team we saw with the same scroll as us."

Sasuke nodded.

They continued to stealthily comb the forest in silence, except for Sasuke occasionally telling Naruto not to step at a certain place, or to back up slowly because there was a collection of sleeping jaguars in front of her.

Eventually, they heard a loud, slightly muffled, shout ahead of them, and they quietly stalked forward, peering under a collection of bushes for the source of the noise.

In front of them was a clearing, coated with sand. In the center, surrounded by pools of blood, yet not a drop touching him, stood the red-haired Suna ninja, Gaara. By his side were his teammates, but they stood off in the distance, and Kankuro, the one wearing face-paint, was shaking.

Two indistinguishable masses of bloodies flesh hung in the clearing, one layed out over a tree and the other slumped on the ground, the third was holding out his scroll eagerly to the middle figure, shaking far worse than Kankuro, so much so that he looked like he was freezing, and his hair, matted down with red liquid, added to that assumption.

The blonde-haired girl, previously standing in the tree, appeared to see a sort of 'all-clear' sign, and she dropped down. Making her way over to the shaking figure, she mouthed 'I'm sorry', before she gently took the scroll out of his hands.

Relieved of the scroll, the third person fainted.

"Which one?" Gaara asked.

"Earth." Temari said, sighing. "Same as us."

Sasuke looked over to Naruto, who locked gazes with him at the same time. 'That's the one we need', Sasuke mouthed. Naruto, however, shook her head furiously, and replied in a harsh whisper, "_No_."

The red-haired Suna ninja looked up at the noise, and his gaze swept the relative area where Sasuke and Naruto were hiding.

"Do you smell anything?" Temari asked.

Sasuke started. _Smell? _He wondered, glancing over at Naruto, who was staring at the people in the clearing with fervor.

"Blood." Gaara replied.

"Well," Kankuro said, attempting to chuckle to relieve himself of the tension, "There is a lot of blood here."

"_Living _blood." Gaara clarified.

The red-headed jinchuuriki finally found what he was looking for, and he looked directly at the spot where Sasuke and Naruto were hiding, his hand moving toward his stomach as he sensed the closeness of the blonde-haired jinchuuriki.

"Are we going to fight?" Temari asked.

"No. We will not." Gaara said, he smirked at Naruto as she hid in the bushes. "She is strong."

"_She_?" Kankuro asked.

"We'll find another team and take their scroll, leave the one we recently obtained in the center of this clearing."

"What?" Temari growled. "We just fought those ninja! We deserve this!"

Gaara glanced at her, exasperated. "Think of it as leaving an offering a superior… demon." He hinted.

Temari dropped the scroll in surprise, staring in terror at the knowing expression on her younger brother's face. "D… De… D…" She stuttered.

"Let's go." Gaara said, walking in the opposite direction of where Naruto and Sasuke were after taking another long look.

"Yeah." Kankuro agreed. "L… let's go."

The moment they'd left, Sasuke determined it safe to talk, and he immediately turned to Naruto. "What was he talking about?" The Uchiha demanded, but Naruto wasn't listening.

"_Superior _demon?" Naruto whispered. "As in… another?"

"Another demon? Naruto, answer me!"

Naruto looked up at Sasuke, and the Uchiha's angry glare melted away the moment he saw her frightened gaze. "Sorry." Sasuke apologized.

"Don't. I'll tell you the moment I can… I promise." Naruto said, smiling slightly before enveloping him in a hug.

Sasuke wrapped his arms around her, taking in a deep breath by her hair, which, he noticed, smelled like a forest.

"One good thing." Sasuke said, smiling at her. "We got our scroll, and we didn't even have to put up a fight."

"Let's go get Sakura." Naruto smiled.

Sasuke nodded, and, looking around the area with his Sharingan, stepped into the clearing and made his way over to the earth scroll. He stepped over one of the indistinguishable lumps, which had its identity confirmed as he saw what appeared to be half of a ribcage, but he blocked that out of his mind as he bent down for the scroll. As he lifted the scroll, he noticed what appeared to be writing underneath it.

" 'To you, Nine-Tailed Kitsune'?" Sasuke read. "He dedicated these deaths to a de…" He stared for a long moment at the writing, before coming to the conclusion, "He dedicated these deaths to _another _demon."

Sasuke turned away, looked back at Naruto, and returned the half-hearted wave that she gave him. As he walked toward her, he studied her features, confused. _Naruto… is not a demon. _He thought, confident in that conclusion. _She'll tell me when she gets a chance. No need to dwell on this now. I have to keep her safe. _He was determined, now more than ever, to keep her in his sight at all times.

He wasn't losing her like he'd lost his family.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for the reviews and compliments! **** Especially to whoever the '2 u' person was! That meant a lot, and I'll most definitely take it into consideration.**

**Oh no! The horror… another fighting scene. (If I dread this so much… I wonder why I don't just write a high school Naruto fic… but high school is terrible, why extend that into my free time?) **

**Plus, ninja's are cool! There's no denying!**

**Yeah, and the story would lose its awesomeness if I suddenly decided everything was going to happen in high school. Would Saru be in preschool yet? And Naruto would most definitely not have a job…. I'm just theorizing, don't worry, everyone's still in Konoha, fighting freaks with freaks and demons with demons and ninjas with ninjas and occasionally little children with demons inside of their heads fighting other little children with demons inside of their heads. **

**13 was a good year, I like that these characters are 13. It's a good, unlucky, evil number of death that has served well for me in the past, even though my favorite number is 963 and all multiples of 7. I wonder… is 9 Naruto's favorite number or does he hate it? Is 'sannin' capitalized? Are chickens really the decedents of T-Rex's? Will the Doctor ever find his one true love and kill the Dalek? What happened to my grilled cheese sandwich in 4****th**** grade? **

**Questions…**

* * *

_Damn it…_ Sakura thought angrily, slamming her fist into a tree trunk. She wiped a cascading flow of tears onto her arm, attempting to concentrate as she was setting up a trap of dangerous explosives.

"Stupid…" Sakura chided herself, breathing in quickly as she set a piece of wire in her mouth and ambidextrously glued an exploding note to a tree while reaching into her bag for a kunai. "What the hell is so special about Naruto-chan?" She growled, placing the finishing touches of her trap on the tree and stepping away from it, not bothering to congratulate herself for her good work.

She sat down against the bark of the tree, and, confident that she was alone, picked up a stick from the ground and began to draw in the dirt. "Naruto," Sakura spat angrily, "wears _orange _on days she's not in bulky gray t-shirts covered in _stains_!"

She punched the ground with her free hand, but it didn't make a difference. "Naruto-chan doesn't want to kiss or do anything like that, she'd rather train! She's not girlfriend material at all!"

She bit her lip, and then spat out one of her darkest thoughts. "She's not even a _virgin_!"

Sakura sighed, hugging her knees to her chest. "I know it's not her fault," she told herself, "and she's perfectly nice. But she _is _bossy, and _weird_! She was weird before that whole... scroll thing with Mizuki-sensei."

Sakura paused. "Was she ra… did she lose it before or during that scroll thing?" Sakura wondering, thinking back on what she'd been told. She shivered, her imagination running wild. "_When_ did he rape her?

"It doesn't change anything though." Sakura said. "Sasuke-kun _adores_ her and he doesn't even _give _me a second glance! I'm pretty too, I'm smarter than her, and if he wanted me to wear orange and run around like a fool I'd do it." She accidentally snapped her stick in half and didn't even notice.

A breeze rolled through the forest and scattered a few fallen leaves, crunching them like footsteps.

"Naruto-chan's got those weird whisker marks too, what is with that? Whiskers? And she's always so shy, refusing to take off her jacket even when it's hot, but then she jumps around and laughs like a little kid!"

The breeze swirled around again, and swirled more leaves in its wake, creating an unintentional tiny pile of discarded leaves.

Sakura placed her head between her knees. She continued her rant, saying, "And she has that creepy secret too. Kakashi-sensei knows… I know he does, and Sasuke guesses something's up but he doesn't say a word. She tries not to mention _him_, and sometimes she goes days without it, but she always does eventually, in a stuttered word or a little hint…"

The breeze continued, blowing gently, but it wasn't enough to mask the sound of the loud footstep crashing into the unintentional pile of discarded leaves.

"That boy? Saru? Some kind of monkey? Somedays it seems like she's in love with him." Sakura informed herself. "In love with a monkey and out of love with the heir of the Sharingan? Sounds quite a lot like Naruto, doesn't it?" She chuckled cynically, angry at herself with being so angry but not being able to stop the emotions pouring out of her, begging to be released with words.

The footstep paused listening to tell if it had been noticed.

"Saru-ouji? Is he Naruto's secret boyfriend?" Sakura snorted. "I doubt it; the only person who's ever been interested in Pudgy-chan's been Sasuke."

The foot continued, deciding it wasn't likely to be noticed until it announced its presence.

"Sasuke-kun just doesn't notice that I'm so much better than that… that _baggage _he's dragging around with him." Sakura bit her lip. "Oh, Naruto-chan… I'm sorry." She dropped her head into her hands. "I'm just so angry!"

"Aha! 'Sasuke-kun' and 'Naruto-chan'? You must be that other member of the famous new Team Kakashi?" A person purred.

Sakura jumped up, twisting to look behind her at the source of the voice. Her gaze connected with dark, yellow eyes and she stumbled backwards.

The person chuckled. "Now, now-" He began, but he was interrupted by the sound of a giant blast as Sakura's trap exploded.

"G… g… got y… your team…. m… mate." Sakura stuttered.

"No. Just his tail." The person assured her.

Sakura turned completely around only to find herself staring at a collection of bared, pointed teeth with fangs eight inches long.

* * *

As Sasuke and Naruto moved closer to their base, they heard a sudden, piercing scream.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, speeding up her pace until she was running so fast that Sasuke could barely keep up.

Panting, Sasuke said, "Maybe she saw a leech, either way, she's attracting everyone to our position!"

Naruto glared back at him. "Or _maybe_ she's hurt!"

"That too." Sasuke confessed.

Moving as fast as they could, not caring about hiding their presence since Sakura's yell had pretty much disrupted the entire element of surprise, the two reached a clearing where they saw a sudden flash of pink before ducking behind a tree.

"What is it?" Naruto whispered to Sasuke, not trusting herself to be stealthy enough to see what was in the clearing without alerting the enemy.

The Uchiha ducked down, crawling on the floor once he was away from the tree, protected by the forest foliage as he made his way closer to the clearing. With one finger, he made a small opening in the grass and peered through, then, forgetting stealth, he gasped loudly in surprise.

"What is it?" Naruto repeated.

He turned to her. "Sakura… is… a giant snake! And the ninja who was in front of me during the Exams! The one I cheated off of!"

"So?" Naruto asked. "Is Sakura-chan all right?"

Sasuke glared at her. "This means that whoever it was wanted me to cheat off of them, because when I-"

"Not important right now!" Naruto hissed, interrupting him. "What should we do?"

Sasuke flinched, biting his lip as he thought. "Um." He glanced back into the clearing and cursed.

"What?" Naruto cried, curiosity getting the best of her and she looked from out of the protection of the tree at the scene in the forest. Her eyes widened.

Sakura was standing against a large tree, paralyzed with fear as a giant, humongous, gargantuan snake with black and red stripes leered at her, hissing and spitting. The back end of the snake was bleeding heavily, and the creature twisted around that, attempting to comfort itself even as it bared its fangs at the pink-haired ninja. On top of the giant snake was a ninja who was standing on the snake, grinning at the scene below. It appeared to be a girl, tall and dark haired with her long hair relaxed on her shoulders, she was wearing a thick white shirt and baggy purple shorts as well as strange, hoop earrings. Her eyes were made up strangely, and her face white like an actress from old theater, but her lips, curled up in a nasty grin, were the most frightening feature.

The snake reared up suddenly, letting out another burst of hissing and spitting as it prepared to bite the figure in front of him.

Paralyzed, Sakura fumbled for a kunai futilely, knowing it would not be enough.

Sasuke, surveying the situation, ran dozens of scenarios threw his head, trying to find one that worked, but suddenly, a flash of orange dashed past him. "Naruto-chan, stop it!" Sasuke growled, but the orange-clad genin was already running to Sakura at full speed, which was rather impressive.

Sakura and the grass nin both stared at the newcomer, but the snake, unfazed at what appeared to be the arrival of another snake, continued it's path and lurched forward, opening it's mouth wide enough to swallow the pink-haired ninja in one try.

Naruto ran to Sakura and hit her with an incredible amount of force, causing the pink-haired ninja to fly sideways and stumble, landing out of the line of strike of the giant snake.

The snake, bothering in this new set of affairs only to switch its angle slightly, bit down on the blonde girl in front of him. The grass nin seemed surprised, and it took a few steps back, sliding off of the back of the giant snake as she did so.

Sasuke howled with outrage and he revealed his position as he jumped into the clearing, abandoning any plans he had come up with. He sent a barrage of weapons after the grass nin while the enemy appeared stunned, and the moment they released from his hands he began to craft hand seals.

Sakura screamed as she stared at the giant snake, but suddenly a hand clamped over her mouth, forcing it shut. The pink-haired genin whimpered, and the hand relented, letting go. Naruto, standing next to her, grabbed the pink-haired girl's arm and tried to drag her into the trees, but Sakura screamed again, pointing to the snake which had previously eaten the blonde girl.

Sakura felt stupid, however, once she saw the smoke of a dispelled shadow clone seep out of the nose of a rather disgruntled giant snake.

Sasuke, upon closer inspection of the grass nin, realized that the face was less feminine then he'd assumed, but he buried that in his mind for later. Relieved, he saw out of the corner of his eye that Naruto was with Sakura before he had to concentrate solely on his opponent.

The grass ninja, seeing the barrage of weapons, revealed he wasn't as stunned as Sasuke had originally thought. He jumped up into midair, throwing his arm below him, and barking out a command Sasuke couldn't hear due to the overwhelming presence of Sakura's screams and the hisses of an angry snake, deprived of its meal.

A cloud of smoke billowed around the grass ninja, surrounding him in a momentary haze.

The cloud faded away to reveal another giant snake, this one slightly smaller than the other and completely black, just as the first snake recovered from it's confusion and lifted its head again, searching momentarily until it found its target, the two kunoichi.

Naruto stared at the striped snake as it leered in front of them, ignoring the frantic tugging on her arm coming from a terrified pink-haired kunoichi. "Naruto!" Sakura cried. "We've got to move!"

"Quiet!" Naruto yelled, turning her head swiftly to face her.

The snake, at her sudden movement, started and bared its fangs hissing and coiling its lower body around the wound. It was about to strike again, when it hissed loudly and became startled when Naruto hissed back with twice as much fury.

"_Now _we run!" Naruto yelled, informing Sakura as the snake was distracted.

Sakura ducked away quickly into the forest, but when she realized Naruto wasn't following her she hesitated for a moment. However, when she was the orange-clad girl staring unfazed into the eyes of the giant snake, her gaze hardened. Abandoning her teammate, Sasuke ran into the woods so that she would double back around and join Sasuke.

* * *

Naruto, distracting the snake so that Sakura could get away, and possibly find help, ran into the woods, occasionally making a shadow clone for the raging snake behind her to lunge at, eat, and then furiously loose its meal and breathe out smoke. She knew she was fast enough, but the snake was so large, and it was getting late, and she found her pace faulting. Knowing it was going to happen sooner or later, Naruto halted; spinning around to face her adversary with the best weapon she had, shadow clones and exploding tags.

The snake however, was no where to be seen.

"Oh, you can play tricks too, can you?" Naruto growled, searching around her, scanning the trees for any sign of the giant striped snake. "Come out, come out, wherever you are." Naruto called softly.

A hiss from above was her only warning, and Naruto looked straight up just in time to see huge fangs, poised to strike, descending over her faster than she could blink.

* * *

Not realizing that Naruto was left to face the first snake alone, Sasuke faced the grass nin confidently. "You can't pass without your teammates, and I don't see them. Turn back now." Sasuke told the ninja.

The grass nin however, merely grinned and the second snake immediately struck, barely giving Sasuke enough time to jump away. Startled and unprepared, the fang of the snake clipped Sasuke's wrist because he attempted to throw a kunai into the throat of the creature even as he jumped away.

The kunai, unfortunately, merely repelled against one of the snakes teeth, and Sasuke clutched his wrist, hissing at the pain as a foreign black liquid seeped out of the open wound.

The grass nin smirked at Sasuke. Angry at his helplessness, Sasuke activated his Sharingan to glare furiously at his enemy. "Hm, hm, hm, hm." The grass nin chuckled strangely. "Well, let's test those precious Sssharingan eyes, shall we?" He wondered.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked. "That's a summoning technique."

"Clever, clever boy." The grass nin smirked, resting his hand on the snout of the snake to calm the angry, black creature. "I'm not testing your mind, I already have one, I just want to see how fast you are, now run."

_What the hell? _Sasuke wondered, standing his ground. "Come here and fight me, stop hiding on your stupid snake."

"Stupid?" The grass nin smirked. "Boy, don't call them that or they may not be so favorable of you in the future."

"I don't see my future involving snakes, sorry." Sasuke growled.

The grass nin chuckled. "Those eyes of yours don't have the ability to see your future, Sasuke-kun, but I can see your path, and I assure you, it involves snakes, both human and reptilian." He smirked, and said, "I am Orochimaru."

"Not so nice to meet you."

"You have quite a tongue, I see. Not like mine, of course." Orochimaru licked his mouth, and then, hissing like a snake, extended his tongue to the great distance of three feet, enjoying the shock adorning Sasuke's features.

"What are you?" Sasuke asked, stepping back.

"I'm a sannin. I'm here to offer you a gift." Orochimaru informed the Uchiha, stepping off of his snake so that the two of them were standing on the same ground and he was able to appear far more impressive with his great height.

Sasuke stepped back again, and seeing a pink-haired flash out of the corner of his eye, his heart began to beat faster once he realized that the striped snake had carried its fight into the forest, and Naruto was fighting it all alone. But then he realized that he was fighting a sannin and his snake with only Sakura for back up, and he realized Naruto had the better deal.

"What kind of a gift?" Sasuke asked.

"Power." Orochimaru replied. "The power to have everything you've always wanted. The power to kill."

Sasuke growled at him, "I'm not a murderer."

"No, you aren't." Orochimaru informed him, stepping closer. "But your brother is, and he killed your family. Nor are you a rapist, but your former teacher was, and he attacked poor, defenseless, nine-year-old Naru-chan, didn't he?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. "_Nine _years?" He said in disgust.

Orochimaru closed the distance between them so that it was less than a few yards. "And it wasn't just once, Sasuke. That man took what he wanted from the little orphan girl, and he liked it so much that he came back… and back… and back… and he-"

"Shut up!" Sasuke hissed.

Orochimaru shook his head, taking another step forward and glaring seriously into Sasuke's Sharingan eyes. He crooned softly, "No, you want to hear, don't you? You _need _to hear. Naruto… Naruto… sweet little Naruto… never the strongest, never the cleverest, her only fault being her beauty…" his tone changed to an angry hiss, "and her lack of a family to notice what was going on! The perfect target! And now, your so wonderful little haven of Konoha can't even keep that man prisoner? They let that rapist live, and now he's got out."

Sasuke gasped, staring up at the man. "What?" He whispered.

"Mizuki-kun has gotten free… A missing-nin just like your brother, free to roam around when they both should be dead." Orochimaru shook his head sadly, "And who is going to catch them? A Chunin with powerful friends and a man as strong as a Kage? How do you expect to avenge your families, Sasuke-kun? How do you expect to save Naruto without power?"

* * *

Naruto closed her eyes, trying to block her panic. She knew that she shouldn't panic and that she should be calm and calculated as she dealt with the situation, but she couldn't help but be afraid as she felt the slimy juices soaking her and the thick, squishy, cavern walls of the snake's stomach rubbing against her, pressing her in so that she could barely move her lungs enough to breath the tiny amount of air allowed her.

_No, no, no, no! _She thought, groaning in terror as her vision began to compress in a familiar way.

She stared up at the small amount of light, summoning all of the weak strength she had to reach toward it. But then, just as her vision gave out, the satisfied snake closed its mouth, and the darkness was absolute.

* * *

"What do you want from me?" Sasuke asked miserably, his voice shaking.

Orochimaru opened his mouth to lie, but thought better of it, and said, "I'm not going to lie, I want your eyes."

"My… what?" Sasuke yelled, backing up from the figure as he began to signal to Sakura, making one-handed signs.

"Your eyes." Orochimaru informed him. "It's not that strange of a concept. The Sharingan is an incredible bloodline, rare, unique, and only two left of it in the entire world, but one is hell bent on killing the other, and I confess, I am not strong enough to kill Itachi because I have no desire to harm myself and no desire to enter a fight where the odds of me winning are fifty-fifty." He smiled.

"Then what can you teach me?" Sasuke asked.

"I am a sannin." Orochimaru informed him. "I know countless jutsu, more about the human body than anyone else, I can give you such power that is painful to obtain, but limitless once completed, I can make you the ultimate shinobi, I can-"

"This isn't a television commercial." Sasuke hissed. "Tell me what you want."

Orochimaru smiled. "I have a feeling we'd get along, it's such a pity though, at heart you are still a family man." The sannin paused. "Well, you are rather young, but startlingly mature for your age. I would gauge you to be… what? Sixteen, seventeen, maybe older?"

"I'm thirteen."

"Come next month, fourteen." Orochimaru reminded him. "Now then, the explaination?" However, he shrugged. "Nah, I am sure someone else will inform you of my regenerative tendencies. For now, all you need to know is that I have power that will enable you to kill the murderer who has haunted your dreams for years and the rapist who but recently entered them, power that will allow you to retire to a happy life as the Uchiha clan head with Naruto at your side at the simple price of blindness."

"Not very appealing." Sasuke lied.

Orochimaru smiled. "Well, your friend can come and rescue you now, but first…" He smirked. "A little… sample, if you will."

And the sannin's neck stretched, heading for Sasuke in the same manner as the snakes had snapped at their prey. Sasuke swiped at the sannin with a kunai, but Orochimaru easily maneuvered it, his head coming to Sasuke's neck and he bit down on a particular spot on Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke cried out in pain and Sakura screamed.

* * *

Naruto closed her eyes, relenting to the darkness.

...

"_I told you to pay attention in class, Naruto-chan, how are you supposed to pass when you continually prank the other students?" Iruka asked the disheartened girl, who sat on a desk with her head buried in her hands. The man shook his head when the girl didn't reply. "Listen, Naruto, do you need any extra help?"_

"_I don't need anything from you!" Naruto growled, staring at the wall, refusing to look at her teacher._

_Iruka frowned. "Naruto, I'm your teacher for the rest of the Academy days, you need to respect me, if we don't get along now, after three years, we're not going to get along later either."_

_Naruto didn't answer him, she merely pulled her orange jacket over her head to block out the sound of his voice and began to hum._

_Iruka sighed, looking at the time and realizing ten minutes had been wasted on this already. "Naruto-chan, I've got somewhere to go, so I'm going to have to ask someone else to sit in for your detention, is that okay?" _

_Naruto rolled her eyes at him._

_Iruka tried to smile, and said, "He's a good friend of mine, he teaches the private studies and he'll be helping out with the more advanced classes next year, so you can think of it as a sneak preview." _

"_Joy." Naruto said sarcastically._

"_Naruto, that is not polite, I think-" Iruka began to chide her, but he stopped when the door opened suddenly and another man stepped in the room. The man was slightly taller than Iruka, and looked more like a ninja that the brown-haired man did, he had rippling muscles, long, silver hair, black eyes, and a pale complexion. _

_Mizuki smiled at Iruka, "I got your message, is this the little troublemaker?"_

_Iruka chuckled. "Nah, this is just Naruto." He put his hand on the little blonde girl's head and ruffled her hair, ignoring her indignant scowl. "Are you fine with watching her until… four?"_

"_Sure." Mizuki shrugged, and he smiled again, this time at Naruto. "How are you today?"_

_Naruto, completely unused to a stranger even acknowledging her existence, stared, dumbstruck. _

"_Well, I'll leave you to it then." Iruka said, walking over to his desk and picking up a briefcase and a collection of files. "Make sure she does the homework!" He called out, leaving._

_Naruto stuck her tongue out and his retreating figure, but she stopped when the door slammed shut, signaling Iruka's departure, and she realized that the silver-haired man was staring at her, smirking. _

"_Would you like me to help you with your homework?" Mizuki asked._

"_Um," Naruto shook her head, "We're supposed to do it by ourselves during detention." She informed him. _

_Mizuki pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards, smiling at her. "What Iruka doesn't know won't hurt him." _

…

_Naruto smiled at the silver-haired man in front of her. "Hello." She said, blushing slightly._

_Mizuki saw that blush, and he smirked but managed to hide it in a pleasant smile as he asked, "Detention again, Naruto? How many times this week have you gotten it?"_

_Not willing to confess that she'd been a true hassle at the Academy on purpose just to get attention and possibly see the kind, silver-haired ninja again, Naruto merely rolled her eyes and said, "I'm just a troublemaker," but she didn't know her bright, eager eyes were giving her away. It was so painfully obvious, alone in the detention room again with Mizuki, that she'd developed a crush on him._

_Mizuki asked her about school as he pulled up a chair again, this time right next to the nine-year old girl._

_Naruto replied that school was fine and she asked him to help her with her homework. _

_Mizuki, nodding, obliged and pulled out a package of chocolate mints, setting them on the desk, saying, "Remember, what Iruka doesn't know won't hurt him." And he put a finger to his lips._

_The little girl copied the movement, giggling, and reached for a chocolate mint._

…

_The next day, Mizuki came up to her after school on a day she hadn't managed to get detention. She was sitting on a swing set, trailing her feet through the dirt, alone as always, but now, for the first time, accompanied by someone who sat on the swing next to her._

"_Hello, Naruto." Mizuki smirked, "How are you today?"_

_Blushing her sweet little blush, Naruto replied, "I'm fine, how are you, Mizuki-sensei?"_

"_Want to know a secret?" He asked, leaning forward._

"_Yes." Naruto confessed, leaning to meet him. _

"_I'm been rather… frustrated lately." Mizuki told her. "I've tried everything, pictures, books, movies… but nothing seems to work."_

"_Oh." Naruto said in surprise, biting her lips as she thought about what she should say, since she did not have a lot of practice with conversation the idea was still new to her. The correct thing to say came to her suddenly, and she asked, "Can I help you?"_

_Mizuki stared at her thoughtfully. "Yes, actually, I think you can." _

_Naruto smiled. "Well, just ask me and I'll help!" _

"_Would you like anything in return?" Mizuki asked._

_Naruto shrugged. "Not really, maybe… if you could help me with school, 'cause lots of times I have no idea what Iruka-sensei is saying!" She chatted away happily, talking for a long moment about some nonsense class._

_Mizuki shut her up though, by leaning over to her, capturing her lips with his lips, and reaching over with one hand to hold her head in place. He kept her there for a long time, even some time after Naruto, recovering from confusion and shock, realized she couldn't breathe with her face smashed against his and she began to hit his chest as hard as her tiny little fists could damage the powerful ninja._

_Finally, he pulled away and stared at her thoughtfully even as she panted for breath. "I have to think about this." Mizuki said, standing up harshly and walking away from the stunned, nine-year old girl._

…

_Naruto was ecstatic. She couldn't help but wonder at how strange she felt, looking over at the other girls in her class; she hid a smile by dropping her head between her arms. It was frightening and strange, but she had been kissed, before any of the other silly little girls in her class. _

_For the first time in her life, she didn't feel like a ghost._

…

_Naruto, walking home from school with her bag slung over her shoulders, hummed a slight tune, ignoring the glances and sudden stops in conversation that occurred every time she grew close to a collection of people on the street. _

_She didn't cry out, due to her excellent mood, when a pale hand reached out and grabbed her, forcing her into a shadowed alley behind a collection of dumpsters. She looked up at her captor though, ready to scream if it was something frightening, but she didn't yell when she realized it was only Mizuki. "Hello, how are you today?" Naruto asked._

_Mizuki smiled at her, breathing heavily even though he hadn't had any physical stress. His face was flushed, and he appeared excited. From where she was, her back up against the hard, cold stone wall, Naruto could hear his frantic heartbeat. _

_The silver-haired man didn't say a word, he just leaned down and picked up the small girl, holding her between himself and the wall at a level where her face was nearly equal to his, and he kissed her neck passionately. _

_Naruto laughed nervously, her eyes darting around her in fright, but she forced herself to relax and she wrapped her arms around Mizuki's neck. "Are you all right today?" She asked._

_The silver-haired man pressed her even harder against the wall to shut her up, and he continued to kiss her, smirking as he did so. Naruto cried out in pain, but when he didn't do anything to stop his action or free her, she said to him tearfully, "Please, please stop it. That hurts!"_

_Mizuki chuckled and he whispered into her ear, "I don't care." _

…

Naruto opened her eyes. _Like hell am I giving up now! _She cried out in her head. _I have Saru and Sasuke, and I'm finally free of that monster! I'm not done! _

Forcing herself to ignore the pain, Naruto, using adrenaline from the dream and her newfound realization, brought her hands together, and, letting out a surge of chakra, performed her characteristic jutsu.


	13. Chapter 13

**Dear faithful readers,**

**Hi. I'm reminding you that I am alive. So sorry this didn't come out earlier…**

**From ('M' stands for 'Mo'! And yes, the one letter abbreviation is needed.)**

**Back to normal format and stuff…**

**I'm sorry that I included, as most of you called it, 'The Hickey of Doom', unfortunately, I believe it to be a very important part of the series, and although I'm writing it from the beginning, I'm not changing that. And, I did include Orochimaru, and if he wanted to put a seal on a Genin's neck during the Chunin Exams, then he, a SANNIN, was perfectly capable of putting a seal on a Genin's neck during the Chunin Exams. Sorry, but that's just the way it goes.**

**I almost have 200 faithful readers and stuff, so review for me! It makes me happy!**

**Sorry, normally I update twice every two weeks or so, but I had finals, it's summer now though, so updates are likely to be more… quicker? Faster? Sooner? Anyway, sorry people.**

**Disclaimer: Duh, why on earth would it belong to me? If it did, why would I be here? Why would I be poor? Why would I not own a third-world country? Why is the sky STILL blue? Sheesh. (I'm sorry, but I'm so tired of blue, why can't they try orange or green for a change, I'm sure everyone would enjoy it.)**

**And now, for your feature presentation…**

* * *

Naruto shivered in disgust, shaking herself off like a dog as she attempted to rid herself of the blood, guts, and slimy juices of the, now dead, giant snake's stomach. She tried her hands on the grass, gagging as she realized her hands were still red and likely she would stay dyed that color until she had a hot shower. "Stupid snake of death!" Naruto yelled pointlessly, kicking the head of the snake.

"Does she want us to do anything?" One clone asked the forty-three others.

A clone shrugged. "I dunno."

"Is she going to dispel us or continue to hop around on one foot?"

"I bet… twenty seconds before she remembers Sasuke."

"Seventeen."

"You only said that because three seconds past."

"…Fourteen."

"Stupid!"

One of Naruto's clones punched the other and it dispelled.

Naruto immediately jumped to attention, dropping her aching foot. "Sasuke!" She cried out, running to the edge of the clearing where she could see the trail of destruction left by the snake. "Sandal!" Naruto cried out as she realized that she was only wearing one.

A clone reached into the snake and pulled out a sandal, covered in bleeding liver, that had been embedded in the dead snake's side. The clone offered it to Naruto, who paled, shook her head, and reached down to unbuckle her other sandal.

Once she had done that, she ran to where she knew Sasuke and Sakura were fighting the enemy ninja, and the thirty-nine clones, those that had survived a momentary brawl, followed.

* * *

Sasuke watched through lidded eyes as Sakura futilely attempted to punch the enemy ninja even as Orochimaru's snake held her down. He was slumped against a tree, fighting as hard as he could against the force in his head telling him to fall unconscious. The pain coming from the bite on his neck was unbelievable, but he was managing to slowly gather up his strength for… some kind of counterattack.

Orochimaru smirked at Sasuke. "You appear to have a remarkable threshold for pain, Uchiha, it's surprising, typically those cursed with the mark faint immediately from shock."

Sasuke glared up at him, the eye with three tomoe whirling furiously while the eye with one tomoe stayed still. His head began to pound from the pain, and he gasped out loud from the excruciating suffering brought upon by the sound of Sakura's high pitched cries, the sound of Orochimaru's cool, calculating voice, the hisses of the snake, and even the gentle breeze of the forest. Even his thoughts were bringing him pain, and he fought of a tremendous wave of nausea as he attempted to keep his eyes open.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled as she attempted, no longer concentrating on trying to defeat the man so obviously above her level, but instead she stared at him in terror. He tried to reassure her with a faint smile, but his face felt like lead and he couldn't even breath, much less smile.

She concentrated her efforts on fleeing from the snake, but both the snake and the sannin took a sadistic pleasure in watching her run about like a frightened rabbit. He was waiting for something, that much was obvious, but he didn't give any sign except for refusing to move long after Sasuke had been bitten, and he also appeared to be timing to see how long the Uchiha could last.

Sasuke felt a cool hand on his shoulder, and he shifted his head, ever so slightly, to see who it was. His gaze relaxed as he realized it was Naruto. She was a welcome sight, standing next to him, as beautiful as ever… and covered in a thick layer of blood, but still beautiful. Sasuke followed her gaze, which was at the clearing, quickly, and realized, due to the determination in her features and her unrelenting, red eyes that were focused on Orochimaru, that she was planning on fighting him. Sasuke licked his cracked lips to give them back some moisture, and then croaked out, "Don't fight him…"

Naruto shook her head, gripped a kunai in her hand, and whispered back, "Do**n't w**or**ry.**"

Sasuke, however, was not reassured, the influx of panic did nothing to help his extremely painful headache and the nausea, and, due to his momentary distraction, he felt the trappings of unconsciousness seep even closer. The last thing he saw before his vision faded completely was the blood stained, orange jacket of Naruto as she ran, headfirst, into a fight she couldn't win.

And then, he fainted and a strange, dark mark flared up on his neck.

* * *

"Hey, creepy snake man and overgrown lizard! Over here!" Naruto screamed, waving her arms to attract the pair even though it was not necessary.

"And here comes the vixen, ready to rescue her lover." Orochimaru grinned, licking his lips. "What a specimen." He said.

The snake, which had curled up around a terrified Sakura, uncoiled itself to hiss at its new prey, ignoring the delicious morsel in favor of the one covered in the blood of its partner. The snake spat violently on the ground and glared at Naruto with a fury only achievable by an intelligent, summons creature.

"Come, little mother, do you wish to test me?" Orochimaru asked, stepping closer to the girl.

Red liquid began to spill around her feet and crawl up to her ankles as Naruto shook in fury. She growled loudly at him and fell into a fighting stance, her kunai still clenched in her hand. A sudden realization stopped it all, and Naruto gasped, the red liquid disappearing instantly. "Did you just call me a…"

"Mother." Orochimaru completed. He smirked, "Don't act surprised, vixen girl, not everyone is oblivious. There are some people who will… listen. Listen to a story, no matter how dark, or help a frightened, abused child regain all she lost…" He whispered this, coming so close to Naruto that she could hear a slight accented hiss as he spoke.

"You're a snake." Naruto observed, sniffing at him.

Orochimaru, not being able to resist the pun, said, "A snake in human's clothing." (1)

Naruto squinted, figuring out from his upturned lips that he was trying to make a joke, but she didn't catch onto it. Quickly, she dismissed it, instead forcing herself to think about the problem at hand. She stepped back from him, "You hurt Sasuke."

"For now. He'll wake up soon, with a new power, stronger than before." Orochimaru shrugged. "The question is," he realized, "Do you want power as well, vixen girl?"

"Y… you're offering me power?" Naruto asked, stepping even farther backward, away from the strange man.

Orochimaru nodded.

"I killed your snake."

The sannin smirked. "I can tell, you're drenched in his blood, and _he_," he indicated to the giant, black snake, "is very angry with you."

"I _kill_ed your _snake_." Naruto stressed.

She locked eyes with Sakura, who hadn't moved from her earlier position. The pink-haired girl, her eyes still wide with terror, caught the simple, uncoded message. _'Kill snake'_, but she shook her head, crawling backwards as she stared at the two enemies.

Naruto, not being able to waste anymore time, moved her eyes back to Orochimaru. "What do you want from me?" She asked.

Orochimaru smiled. "I would _love _the allegiance of one as powerful as you… but that is hard won, so… I have several reasons, must involving Sasuke." He moved swiftly, suddenly appearing right next to her, and he cupped her blood-stained chin with one hand, ignoring her protest. "Sasuke, a boy who went through such a terrible tragedy… he loves you, the abused vessel. He could have anyone, but he loves you, how does that make you feel?"

Naruto looked up at him, terrified at the close contact. Orochimaru traced the frame of her cheek with one hand, and Naruto closed her eyes at the touch, shaking with fear instead of rage. The sannin removed his hand, but kept cupping her cheek, forcing her to look him in the eye, "Just what does he expect to gain from you? A boy from a dying clan, unable to revive it due to his love's fear? That is a pitiful love story, don't you think?" He purred.

"Let me go." Naruto demanded.

"No, I will not." Orochimaru said. "Answer me this," he asked, "Why do you humor him? What do you wish for?"

"I… I…" Naruto stuttered, her blue eyes wide. "I don't humor him… I want to be loved…"

"But you don't _want _him, not in the way he wants you, do you?" Orochimaru wondered.

"I could…" She began, trying to organize thoughts she hadn't bothered having. Suddenly, her gaze hardened, and she glared at the sannin, "Let go of me or I'll kill you!" She growled.

Orochimaru smiled and let go of her cheek. "My, my, you _are_ a very interesting girl, aren't you?"

"You shouldn't know… about…" Naruto said, backing up now that she was free. "I'll make you… make you… kill you, so you don't tell anyone!"

"Dear, dear," Orochimaru chuckled, "What sane military leader _doesn't _know the name of Saru Uzumaki?"

Naruto screamed a wordless cry, and rushed at him, attempting to punch him and impale him on a kunai knife at the same time. At that moment, thirty-two clones of Naruto burst from the trees, poised to attack.

Sakura had set up a trap, a trip wire ready to set off an array of exploding notes attached to kunai and shuriken, all that she had left for the Exams. When the snake, Sakura's target, moved forward to attack the thirty-two other creatures that burst into the clearing that were also covered in the blood of his partner, he tripped the wire, unleashing the trap.

Unfortunately, thirty-one of Naruto's thirty-two clones as well as the giant snake were caught in the oncoming explosion.

There was a huge blast, a disgusting screech of pain, and then a writhing, mostly blown to bits snake collapsed onto the ground at the edge of the clearing.

"Great." Naruto rolled her eyes angrily, "Now anyone who _doesn't _know where we are, knows exactly where we are." She growled. _I sound like Sasuke_. She realized. She turned toward the raven.

Unconscious and burning up with an obvious fever, Sasuke lay on the ground, moaning slightly as one hand clenched the skin on the side of his neck with such force that it was painful to even look at it.

Naruto turned to face Orochimaru, her gaze furious. "Yo**u…**" She growled, "**A**re de**ad**!"

Orochimaru merely smirked again. "Ah, so the feeling is mutual?" He asked, looking from Sasuke to Naruto.

Naruto screamed, baring her newly acquired fangs and flexing her hands as she dealt with the uncomfortable sensation of suddenly growling nails three times as thick as usual and triple the size.

"How interesting," Orochimaru said, "It only comes out when you're angry?"

Naruto screamed and rushed at him, but the sannin moved quickly, 'tut'ing as he stepped in a large puddle of blood caused by his dead snake, but he didn't pause as he grabbed Naruto's wrist. Naruto gasped, as his cold hands tore through her skin without him even trying, and she turned around, trying to hit him again with her only free hand, but he caught her fist. "Just what are you trying to do, hm?" Orochimaru asked.

"Let **me go**!" Naruto screamed; a red liquid pouring over her hand to try and repel him.

"In a moment." Orochimaru assured her. His tongue extended out of her body and it wrapped itself around her arms, freeing his hands. With his mere tongue, he lifted the struggling, screaming young girl off of the ground. "Ku, ku, ku, ku…" He chuckled, even though the sound was slightly muffled due to his extended tongue.

She screamed in rage, twisting her body wildly and trying to free her arms, but he was far too strong for her.

Orochimaru, with his free hand, touched the bottom of her jacket, but his motion was interrupted by his senses alerting him to an incoming attack. He jumped, easily out of the way, taking Naruto with him, and he glared at the pink-haired kunoichi who had dared to attack him.

Rapidly, he formed a seal, and black lines shot out of his hands and at the pink-haired girl before she could even blink, they coiled around one of her legs and she fell down instantly. Her face pressed into the ground, gasping for air to replace the ones lost in her lungs, Sakura glared up at him, watching with terror as he held Naruto, powerless.

The sannin shook his head, clearing his mind from that small interruption and quickly regaining his train of thought. He made an expression that somewhat resembled a comforting smile at the still yelling and struggling blonde, but she missed it and he didn't care to draw attention to it.

He brought his hand to the bottom of her jacket, gripping the orange cloth and the black shirt underneath it with one hand, and he quickly lifted it, revealing her stomach. Naruto, instantly, stopped, and she stared, horrified, at the man in front of her. Orochimaru made a quick seal with his free hand and it glowed with a purple fire.

"Let me go." Naruto whispered.

Orochimaru rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to harm you, little girl." He told her, unable to help himself, he smirked and added, "Although you are shapely and beautiful for a girl of your years, I believe Sasuke has marked you as his already."

He brought the glowing hand down upon a black, swirling seal on the blonde girl's stomach, "However, I am afraid this will hurt."

At first, Naruto didn't feel anything, just the simple sensation of four fingers and two thumbs touching the part on her stomach where her seal was, and the typical jinchuuriki-related paranoia caused her to lash out with enough strength that she finally freed her arms from Orochimaru's tongue.

She fell to the ground with a loud thud, and the moment the initial shock faded, she could feel a light sensation, a small tingling, on her stomach, light enough that it wasn't painful but enough to cause discomfort. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and stared up at Orochimaru. "My sea… seal… what did you-"

"Don't worry." Orochimaru said.

_Like my enemy telling me not to worry is supposed to be reassuring? _Naruto wondered cynically, clutching her stomach at a sudden burst of pain.

She collapsed to the ground, shaking uncontrollably from some sudden change. She didn't even have time to fight it, or to protest, her body just shut down.

The sannin smirked as he surveyed his handiwork. Two summons for two of the most interesting specimens of all. He turned to walk away, not realizing he was directly in the line of sight of the pink-haired kunoichi, who recoiled in fear at his approach.

Orochimaru snorted when he saw here. "Don't bother worrying, I don't care about you… In fact, I don't even remember your name."

Sakura blinked twice, and then the last conscious genin member of Team Seven slipped into the void.

* * *

Kiba, Shino, and Hinata were just wiping off the gooey, yellow remains of the fallen, giant leeches when they heard it, an earsplitting noise that shattered Kiba and Akamaru's sensitive eardrums.

Wincing, Kiba said, "I think that was Sakura-chan."

"Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked nervously, "Do you think they're in trouble?"

"Judging from tonal infliction," Shino said coolly, "Sakura-chan was either startled or attacked."

"What should we do?" Hinata asked nervously.

"Save them of course!" Kiba shouted. "I'd love to show that bastard _Sasuke_ just who's top dog around here!"

"The top dog," Shino said, "is your father's, since it weighs three-hundred and twenty-two pounds and is an official member of the ANBU."

"I meant figuratively!" Kiba shouted. "You don't-"

"However," Shino interrupted, "I do agree, if we join Team Seven in a battle they cannot win and then succeed; the Shinobi Code demands that they relinquish their scroll to us."

"Then let's go!" Kiba yelled, "Come on, Akamaru!" Hinata giggled and followed him while Shino rolled his eyes at his teammate's antics.

They used Akamaru's and Kiba's noses to find and follow a trail left by Sasuke and Naruto, indicated by a smell of peppermint and ramen. They traced the smells back to a clearing reeking with blood.

* * *

Sasuke blinked. His eyes opened, he was assaulted with white light, and he closed his eyes. Someone, apparently, had been keeping very close watch on him, however, and he immediately heard the screech of, "Sasuke-kun's awake!"

He'd have much preferred Naruto waking him up, her silken gold hair caressing his cheek… the soft gaze from her ocean-blue eyes… her bright orange garments illuminating her like a golden sun… Yes, he would have much preferred Naruto waking him up.

He relented, and opened his eyes again to find himself staring into two pairs of eyes, bright green and pale-blue. He blinked rapidly, suppressing the urge to yell at the scene.

"Give him some space, you idiots." Shikamaru's lazy drawl said.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun!" Two voices said at once, and two sets of arms wrapped themselves around his middle.

"Off!" Sasuke growled, attempting as best as he could to get rid of the fangirls.

Sakura, blushing to the point where her face was red, immediately jumped off of him, mumbling a quick, "Sorry," as she did so. Ino, however, didn't relent, and merely hugged him tighter. "Oh, Sasuke-kun!" Ino cried.

Sasuke glared down at the growth on his stomach, and then decided to ignore her. He was surprised to find that all of the rookie teams were assembled in their unofficial base, and that another sleeping bag had been set up next to his and Naruto was lying on it, unconscious. "What happened to her?" He asked.

"The… the man did something to her stomach, I don't know what, but every time we try to see what's wrong she sends out some sort of chakra flare and knocks us down." Sakura told him.

Sasuke attempted to sit up, but it was difficult due to Ino's hugging and his sore muscles, Choji, however, grabbed Ino's shoulders and pulled her off of him, something he was very grateful for.

For a long time, everyone sat in silence, the rookie teams having no idea what to say to each other, and in many of the young ninjas cases, no idea why they were staying, but they were, just sitting around in a group, waiting for Naruto to wake up.

It was nightfall before she did. Sakura was sitting in a corner, close to Shikamaru and Choji, which was as far away from Sasuke as she could manage. Kiba was next to Sasuke, mentally contemplating whether or not now was a good time to ask the other for a private duel, and the rest of the people were scattered around randomly, milling about as they waited.

Naruto groaned, and although the noise was quiet it was the only sound after a lengthy silence, so everyone heard it. Sasuke immediately, faster than anyone could blink, was at Naruto's side, supporting her head as she groggily sat up in an action that caused Ino to gasp out loud.

Once Naruto awoke, despite Ino glaring at her every chance the pale-eyed girl could get, there was no incident. The rest of the rookies stayed by the group for a long, awkward two hours, where Shikamaru constantly mumbled, "A sannin? Why would a sannin be here?" Eventually, they left.

"So… should we sleep and head for the tower tomorrow?" Naruto asked. The three hadn't really spoken to each other at all except for Sakura's medical 'Does anything hurt? Does it hurt if I poke your head here? Would you like me to get a bandage? Are you bleeding?' to both Sasuke and Naruto, although mostly directed at Sasuke, and Sasuke's 'Sakura, what happened?' as well as, "Naruto, are you okay? Do you need me to get you anything?... Are you sure you're okay?... Naruto-chan, how are you feeling?... Naruto-chan? Are you okay?...'.

"Yeah, I'll take the first watch." Sasuke offered.

Sakura glared at him. "Are you joking?" She spat.

"No." Sasuke replied.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You and Naruto can barely walk, you're blinking every three seconds, and the worst part of it is, we have no idea what that snake man did to either of you, you two our sleeping and I'll watch tonight."

"The _entire _night?" Naruto blinked.

"Oh, come on, Naruto-can, I am a kunoichi, I can go without sleep for one night."

* * *

Those words rang in her head. She kept hearing them… _I am a kunoichi… I can go without sleep for one night… no big deal…_ She heard them as she helped Naruto pack, since Sasuke could barely even move, and she heard them as she wrapped her arms around Sasuke and carried him, along with some of their stuff.

_Is it possible the sannin turned me into a slug?_ Sakura wondered. Her stomach growled, since they hadn't had time to get food other than a few protein bars, unattractive black rings two inches thick circled her eyes, and she glared at everyone in sight, which happened to be only Sasuke and Naruto.

They walked on in silence, Naruto wasting her remaining weapons and chakra attacking anything that moved, including harmless birds, harmless spiders, harmless furry creatures, and not so harmless giant centipedes and once, a panther which took a combination of Naruto's half hearted shuriken throwing and Sasuke's fire jutsu to take down.

The jutsu, however, wore Sasuke down to such a point that he was practically asleep as he leaned against Sakura completely trusting her, an embrace she would have relished if she wasn't so tired and Naruto wasn't sending her dirty looks every chance she got.

They walked for about three hours, before a wounded man with silver hair and glasses fell out of a tree and landed on Naruto.

After the man and Naruto dislodged themselves from each other, and some seething from Sasuke, he introduced himself.

"Hello," the man said, patting himself down and wincing as he moved his bleeding shoulder. "I'm Kabuto, I believe we met earlier."

"Yes," Naruto said seriously, "I recognize you. You're the stalker man with a gambling addiction."

Kabuto blanked and stared at her for a long moment. "I… I'm the _what_?" He asked.

Naruto smiled at him, in an attempted nonthreatening gesture, however with her large canines and whisker marks making her look remarkably like the panther she and Sasuke had taken down earlier, it didn't manage to reassure. "You're the man who knows a lot and has it on cards." She clarified.

"I suppose…"

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke spat.

Kabuto grinned at him. "I like you, straight to the point, like a true Shinobi."

"That didn't answer my question." The Uchiha growled.

Kabuto sighed. "I got in a fight with some other team… from Suna, I think. There was sand everywhere, and I just was flung off to the side. I couldn't find my teammates, I tried searching for them, and I was just heading to the tower when I tripped and fell on this lovely kunoichi." He smiled at Naruto and she mimed biting him.

"So?" Sasuke asked. He briefly wondered if he, the injured one leaning against the girl who'd been in a fight and then stayed up all night for no reason, since no one had attacked, should be taking control of the situation, but then he realized that Naruto was only threatening when she wasn't trying to be, and Sakura was too crabby to be vicious, so it would have to do.

"Well…" Kabuto grinned like a new thought had occurred to him. "Why don't we team up? My teammates are probably at the tower, so I'll go with you guys and be an extra man if anyone attacks, so we're all protected."

"We don't need an extra man." Sasuke lied.

The glasses-wearing ninja lifted an eyebrow, "Oh, do you? Pinky and yourself look half dead, the only one in the condition to fight is the blonde vixen over here, and she seems remarkably skittish."

Naruto glared at him, but since she was currently hopping up and down on one leg to try and rid herself of the persistent, obscenely hyper state-of-mind she'd been in since she awoke she decided he could draw that conclusion.

"So, how about it? I'm not going to betray you or anything, my team already got the scrolls."

Sasuke thought about it for a long moment, before he decided. "Fine, but don't try anything, and we're going to have two clones guarding you at all times." He looked at Naruto, but she didn't notice the gesture.

"You're weird." Naruto told the glasses-wearing ninja.

"You're weird too." He informed her.

"Touche." She replied.

"Naruto!" Sasuke interrupted, "Two clones, now!"

She blushed. "Right, sorry." She put her hands up in an addition symbol. She propelled chakra into her wrists, and waited.

Nothing happened.

"Naruto…" Sasuke growled.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry…" Naruto replied. "I'll get, get, get, get, get it this time." She held her hands up in the symbol again.

"Are you alright?" Kabuto asked, staring at her worriedly.

"Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine!" Naruto replied. "Why would you think, think anything was wrong?" Sasuke stared at her, horrified, and Sakura also scrutinized the girl with care, but she wasn't terrified that Naruto was injured, just that she couldn't decide whether or not she was happy with this news.

Naruto began blinking rapidly, and to her it seemed as if everyone else was moving at a sudden sluggish pace, and even their words were slowed, but she ignored the fact, deciding that she and everyone else was just tired, even though she didn't feel tired at all… quite elated in fact, but that wasn't important.

She put her hands up in the addition symbol again, and this time, when she pushed chakra in that pattern, she heard a satisfying 'pop' sound. Unfortunately, the noise came from one, sickly, panting, grey and white clone currently dying on the ground. "What?" She yelled.

The others blinked in surprise, knowing it was practically a flashback to her Academy days. "Naruto-chan?" Sakura questioned.

"Try using less chakra." Kabuto said. "You're overusing the requirements."

"I'm using barely _any_ chakra!" Naruto snapped back. Still, she made the handsign, although this time she didn't even bother feeding chakra into it, to her surprise, however, the four ninja were surrounded by no less than fifteen clones.

"Can you dispel any?" Sasuke asked nervously, still staring at her as if she was a fragile glass teetering over the edge of a cliff that he wanted desperately to keep from falling without touching.

"Of course!" Naruto exclaimed confidently, she looked at the clones, concentrated hard…

And all fifteen clones dispelled.

"This is weird." Naruto growled.

"We'll get a medic nin to look you over later." Sakura said, "For now, let's just take the fifty clones."

"_Fifteen_, thank you very much." Naruto corrected.

"Whatever." Sakura rolled her eyes. Naruto glared at her, but she didn't respond. They settled for the twelve clones Naruto managed to create.

* * *

(1) I doubted anyone would get this, so he just changed the "Wolf in sheep's clothing" bit, it doesn't matter anyways, no one ever said Orochimaru had to make sense to other people.

* * *

**Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry that this took so long AND it's short. I know I used to update far more often, but I just haven't been able to as of late. I'm trying, I promise! (don't eat me…)**


	14. Chapter 14

**What time is it? Story time!**

**Is 'sannin/Sannin' capitalized?**

* * *

Sasuke, now leaning on Naruto since Sakura had had a dizzy spell not too long ago, sent glances to their new companion, Kabuto, at every interval he could. The man had asked three, completely unrelated questions all involving Sasuke's welfare; how fast his heart rate was, if he was experiencing any blurry vision, and whether or not Sasuke could count to ten in his current condition; and then left the younger ninjas completely alone, and walked along the forest floor like a civilian walking down the street, completely unconcerned with everything going on. He wasn't acting like a scared ninja who had lost his companions and was all alone in a forest that had dislocated his arm and drained him of half his blood, his explanation for the blood and limp. _Kabuto is a suspicious man. _Sasuke said, glaring at him before returning to concentrate on walking.

Naruto had started this peculiar habit of practically skipping as she walked, and the time he'd asked her if she was alright she had responded, "OfcourseI'mallrightareyouokayyou''mveryhungrySasukehowareyou…" and she had rambled for three minutes before coming to an abrupt stop and refusing to speak again.

Sakura was walking along the road like a zombie, lazily pointing a kunai at any and every noise, but occasionally stumbling so much that Kabuto had to stop her and straighten her out, it was getting to the point where Sasuke was afraid that Kabuto would have no choice but to carry her, and unless he relinquished himself to the man's care and put Sakura in the care of Naruto, there would be no other option but to allow for the glasses-wearing ninja's help. And, even if he allowed the man to walk to the Tower with them, Sasuke didn't trust him.

His own health was acting rather strange, nearly as sporadic as Naruto's. A constant, flaring pain attacked him where he'd been bitten by the strange, snake sannin, but the weirdest feeling was a strange tugging sensation on his back at the ends of his scapula. He tried his hardest to ignore it, but he didn't like the feeling and he couldn't wait until they'd reached the Tower, and thereby safety in the form of experienced medic nins.

The 'sannin' was the worst part. He'd heard of them, the Three Ninjas, famous people who apparently had contracts with animals that they could summon to their sides, all from Konoha. Each village had their own legendary ninja, although, truthfully, Konoha had the most, with the Yellow Flash, and various others, including…

Sasuke's fists clenched.

_How? How did I forget _him_? I was too preoccupied with making Chunin and… and _flirting _with Naruto that I haven't even _thought _about _him_ for weeks! I still live in my old home, for Kami's sake, and I just… just forgot! _He glared at the foliage in front of him and Naruto, for a split second looked at him but appeared to come to a mental conclusion incredibly fast and she turned away, continuing to concentrate on helping Sasuke to walk and to stop herself from bolting into the forest just for the sake of running and ridding her body of the painful energetic itch she was feeling.

Sasuke couldn't stop his train of thought, mental images, images he'd repressed, returning back to him at full force. A rage he could barely contemplate swelled up inside of him.

_His brother… laughing… swinging Sasuke onto his shoulders so that the young boy could reach the practice kunai lodged in a tree… it was yards away from its target but it didn't matter, Itachi was still praising Sasuke for some part of his form…_

Sasuke leaned closer into Naruto without even realizing it.

_Mizuki… the other teacher… smiling at Sasuke as he beat the obstacle course two laps before the others… the man ruffled Sasuke's hair and showed the time to Iruka, who nodded in appreciation… and Sasuke relished in his praise…_

Sasuke faltered for several steps, but Naruto held him up and kept his balance for him.

_Itachi… Itachi standing over their dead parents… blood… blood seeping into the floorbloods… blood that never got out… blood that had to be covered by a rug… it never got out… it came closer… nearly touching Sasuke's feet… his parents blood flowing all over the room like spilled water…_

Sasuke's Sharingan flashed menacingly. He was vaguely aware of Naruto asking if he was alright, and he nodded curtly to her. He realized Sakura was ahead of them now, Kabuto making up the rear, he must have stumbled so much that the half-asleep girl just passed them.

_Itachi… Itachi and his Sharingan eyes… always being compared to him… even after his parents deaths… 'like Itachi…' 'Hope he doesn't go down the same road…' 'like Itachi' 'He's incredible, a prodigy…' 'like Itachi…' 'the last Uchiha… the last Uchiha…'_

_ 'Do you see that boy?'_

_ 'The one in blue?'_

_ 'With the fan, it's him! The last of them!'_

_ 'The last Uchiha, incredible! He's still in the Academy?'_

_ 'Well, he is some prodigy.'_

_ 'Not like his brother though, he was in the Anbu at his age…'_

_ 'What was his name?'_

_ 'I dunno. One was Sasuke and the other Itachi.'_

_ 'So, is he Itachi or Sasuke?'_

_ 'Does it matter? It's still an Uchiha.'_

Sasuke breathed in air swiftly and painfully. Unconsciousness was seeping in at the corners of his eyes, but he battled it away swiftly. He pulled himself away from the blackness by clutching Naruto closer to him and staring at her golden braid for a moment, he wouldn't be weak. Not again.

_She came in late that day. Tears falling down her face even though she attempted to hide herself, to shrink herself into her orange jacket, far too big for a ten year old. She sat down and shook in her seat, but Iruka was not in school to tell her to go to the medic. Their teacher, Mizuki, gave her a smile before continuing the lesson._

Sasuke shook his head violently, shaking away his sleepiness and the tortured visions playing in his mind. Naruto looked at him, concerned, but he assured her and continued to walk, this time without faltering. He braced himself for the dull, aching pain and he stared straight ahead, more determined then ever.

Behind them, Kabuto pulled his hands out of a jutsu position and smirked.

* * *

Their approach to the Tower was just like everything, anticlimactic. There were still two days left in the exam, so most of the other ninja teams hadn't even thought about approaching the Tower yet. Kabuto, with a wave and some joke about 'not being useful', left the group to search for his team.

There was a puzzle with the scrolls that they had to figure out, Sakura was so tired she didn't say a word to help, she just sat down once they'd reached the tower and glared at anyone who tried to talk to her while moaning about a headache. Sasuke never wanted to see how she would act with a hangover. They were supposed to solve a puzzle, it was frankly obvious, and there was apparently supposed to be writing on the door frame.

However, someone in their infinite wisdom had scratched out the words with a kunai.

_Damn it._ Sasuke growled, staring at the Tower. Options immediately started running threw his head. It could be a trap; all of the doors except one had their puzzles scratched out so that all of the other teams were forced to go to one entrance or it could have been someone being just spiteful, either way, it was a bad idea to circle the Tower and look for an intact poem. He frowned. They could hang out here, but being in the open meant being constantly under the risk of attack, and there was only a day and a half left in the Exams, so all of the other ninja would now be starting to congregate to the Tower, whether or not they had the scrolls.

"Naruto, you have the earth scroll?" Sasuke asked.

"YES!" Naruto shouted.

He stared at her for a moment, and Sakura glared at her, but the orange-clad genin merely squinted her eyes in confusion, wondering what she did wrong. Sasuke, for the thirty-seventh time, made a mental note that he needed to get a medic nin to check up on her. Actually, to check up on his entire team, but that was beside the point. "Can I have it?" He asked.

Instantly, Sasuke not even having seen her move, Naruto was standing right in front of him holding the earth scroll. Instinctively, Sasuke flinched. "H… how'd you do that?" He asked her.

"DO WHAT?" Naruto yelled.

"Nevermind." Sasuke said, taking the scroll from her hand as well as the heaven scroll from Sakura's pack, which she'd dropped on the ground.

"What are you going to do?" Sakura asked, yawning.

"I'm going to open them."

Sakura blinked. "Are you sure? Didn't they say not to?"

Sasuke nodded. "But, what else can we do? We either walk into a trap or open up the scrolls, pick one."

"WHY ARE YOU TALKING SO QUIET?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and said loudly, "Try to keep your voice down; we'll see what's wrong in a moment!" He put a hand to his lips.

Naruto blushed loudly, but she nodded.

The Uchiha stared at the scrolls in his hands and took a deep breath to summon his courage. "Heregoes." He mumbled, and he opened the two scrolls at once. Instantly, they started to steam, and Sasuke dropped them.

Out of the smoke came a Konoha Chunin.

"Hello." The Chunin said. He had huge wrinkles on his face and black, ringed eyes and glared at them. In monotone, like he was reciting something he was supposed to say, he said, "Congratulations for correctly interpreting the puzzle, obviously you realize that the mind and the body are both important attributes for a ninja-"

"We didn't solve a puzzle, someone scratched it out." Sasuke informed him.

The Chunin lazily looked up at the puzzle. "Ah, so they did." He appeared to contemplate this for a moment and then said, "Yeah… whatever. Anyway, train your mind and body for perfection… heaven stands for mind, earth is body, quote by the legendary Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, thank you for participating in the Chunin Exams at Konoha, please step through the doors, we will inform you when the rest of the people have finished and you are free to go, for now, please sit down and relax, we have some refreshments waiting for you. You can receive medical help in an hour, we have a team ready for all of the new arrivals, but the last to enter was in need of immediate surgery, and they're all busy at this current moment. Whatever. Bye."

The Chunin put two fingers up to his nose and disappeared in a swirl of wind and leaves.

"Sleep?" Sakura asked. "Did he say sleep?"

Sasuke looked at her for a long moment with a pained expression on his face, but when he saw how deep the black circles were under her eyes and her absolutely miserable expression, he nodded. Sakura sighed in relief, and stood up.

They walked into the waiting room. Seven other teams were there, only two others bearing Konoha headbands, but neither Sasuke, Sakura, or Naruto recognized them. The room was mostly empty, but there were benches set up, even though it looked as if someone had just thrown random furniture into it. There was a stand set up, that had some water and what looked like rice, chicken, and habatsu sauce, but six ninja from Sound were standing next to it and apparently guarding it.

Sasuke decided to wait before getting refreshments.

He maneuvered his team around the edge of the room, noting that the Sand ninja were the only ones in the center, and the red-head, Gaara, was staring at them with an apathetic expression on his face. He flashed his Sharingan at the ninja, and had the satisfaction of seeing the red-head blink profusely, before he turned away and found a bench in one of the corners.

Sasuke sat down in the centre, refusing to keep his eyes from scanning the room for an incoming attack. On his left, Sakura lay down on the bench and fell asleep, her feet on his lap. He wanted to push them off, but then decided not to bother her. Naruto sat down next to him, and then immediately jumped up.

"What's wrong?" He whispered, but Naruto didn't even hear him.

"Naruto-chan!" He hissed loudly. She turned to him. "What's wrong?" He asked in a harsh whisper.

She apparently sensed the need to be quiet, so she leaned down and whispered in his ear, "_I'm very, very, very hyper and shaking and I just can't sit down or I think I'll explode._" She informed him.

Sasuke scrutinized her for a long moment, and then said, "That's fine, just try to stay standing, don't pace, I want to keep you near us."

She nodded.

* * *

"Excuse me, excuse me, are you in need of medical attention?"

Sasuke jerked awake. He'd been sleeping sitting up, his head bowed, and the movement aggravated his neck, but he kept his head up and stared at the new arrival. It was dark in the waiting room, obviously sometime in the middle of the night, but the other teams were apparently sleeping in shifts, keeping one or two members of their teams awake at all times.

The medic ninja, two people, an old male and a young female, were standing in front of them.

"Uh, yes." Sasuke said. He looked at Sakura, who hadn't even shifted slightly from before. "I think she needs a vitamin pill and she has a nasty cut on her right ankle that needs to be checked out, and Naruto-chan…" He instantly stood up.

Naruto was gone.

His Sharingan activated by itself. "Have you seen a young ninja, female, in orange clothes?" He asked, trying desperately to keep himself from shouting.

The old man and the young woman started for a moment, and stared at each other. The old man finally spoke, "She had to… see to something, the Hokage said she was free to go. She'll be right back here."

"Did she receive medical attention?" Sasuke asked seriously.

"No, we asked but she said she didn't need it." The young medical nin informed him. She harshly changed the subject with, "I'm sure she's fine, what about you? Are you injured?"

Sasuke stared into space.

"Sir?" The old man asked. "Are you injured?"

"No." Sasuke replied.

* * *

Naruto held Saru in her arms, smiling at him softly. The little book of fairy tales she'd read to him in order to make him fall asleep softly fell to the ground. She cuddled him close to her for a long moment, breathing in the combined smell of baby powder, cheap soap, and dirt that only a mother could love.

"I'm sorry we pulled you out of the Exams for this," the Chunin said. He was the same man who had delivered the message to their team when they opened their scrolls, and now, standing in the center of a room adorned by cribs in a daycare smelling of cleaning supplies and the unmistakable scent of plastic toys, he looked incredibly out of place.

"It's fine. I actually appreciate it." Naruto said, gently petting Saru's hair, making sure he was deep asleep before she picked him up and put him back in his bed.

The Chunin shifted his feet awkwardly. "It's just… he had a nightmare, the nurse's said he was screaming and… glowing or something, he wouldn't let anyone touch him."

"You told me this earlier." Naruto reminded him. She shifted her position, and keeping a firm grip on the toddler, she shakily stood up with him in her arms. She hummed a soothing little tune as she made her way to the crib with the stuffed sock, otherwise known as Saru's favorite toy, Socky-chan.

"Do you know what it meant? He was yelling something about snakes and… we just thought you would be able to calm him down."

Naruto set Saru in a crib, and gently kissed his forehead before tucking him in. "I think he did more to calm me down." She whispered, unable to keep the thin trace of fear out of her mind.

* * *

Sasuke looked up when the doors opened again, and this time his prayers to Kami were answered, Naruto walked in the room, drawing a few heads simply due to her garish outfit. She walked into the room and sat down beside him, right where she'd left. She didn't seem to be incredibly hyper or practically going insane like she had earlier, but he still narrowed his eyes at her approach. "Where have you been?" He snapped.

Naruto froze. "I just… had to see something."

Sasuke glared at her. "You're not going to tell me?" Naruto bit her lip, the burden of the secrets she was bearing wearing down on her, but she didn't say a word. Sasuke looked away from her, but unable to help himself, he mumbled, "At least you're better."

"Did you and Sakura-chan get help?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." Sasuke lied.

* * *

They all got a meal when the number of Konoha ninja teams outnumbered the Sound ninja teams, and they took over the stand and gave food to everyone, electing three different teams to guard it at one time. It was rather childish how the entire group was separated into different villages, and how they were using bloodless intimidation to get what they wanted, since no one was willing to fight there because it would mean ejection from the Exams for themselves and their teams, but all of the ninjas wordlessly agreed to the rules.

* * *

Full, rested, and eager to get out of the stuffy room once the population limit had been reached three fold, all of the ninja inside breathed a sigh of relief when they were told to leave the room, go down the hallway, take the next seven lefts, and then enter a room on their right where they would be dismissed.

Briefly, Sasuke debated how taking the 'next seven lefts' could possibly be part of any directions, but then he noticed how messed up the hallways were and realized it was a valid direction. The Tower was made to mess with their minds.

Naruto and Sakura hugging his side, their group was one of the first to enter the room and was informed to 'stand on one of the marked places'. Sasuke saw, in the center of the room, someone had placed colored tape on the floor, and he stood over one of them nervously. The Hokage was in the front of the room, sitting in a seemingly normal chair, scowling over everyone, next to him was a Jonin Konoha ninja, coughing into a pink handkerchief, and the sensei's were standing in the balcony's on the different sides of the room, also scowling over everyone. Except for Kakashi, it was impossible to tell whether the masked ninja was smiling or frowning.

Once everyone was settled, Sasuke noted angrily that the red-haired ninja from Suna was standing behind Naruto; the Jonin with the coughing fit spoke after ten seconds of hacking.

"Hello." He coughed again. "I'm the Prelim… and next round… Proctor." He coughed. Sasuke wondered why, if his cough was that bad, he didn't just go see a medic and have his lungs repaired with chakra. "Unfortunately…" He didn't cough this time, and just glared at them, "This batch of genin did remarkably well."

"And that's a bad thing?" Kiba Inuzuka asked.

Sasuke stared at him; he hadn't even seen their team come in. Other that a gash on Hinata's forehead and neck, some rips in Shino's jacket, and a bandage on Akamaru's rump, their team was unscathed, unlike his had been.

"Yes, it is, stupid little dog boy," said the Jonin, coughing again. Akamaru barked loudly, but the Jonin continued, "Because you all are apparent geniuses, we now are going to have a Prelim round, to get rid of half of you." He frowned, "Also, someday you'll all be ninjas and have to kill each other, and this means your generation will be deadly, but no one seems to care… I don't understand why we don't just kill you all…"

"Stop," the Hokage said, glaring at him.

"Right." The Jonin said, chagrined. "Anyway, the rules are these, teams no longer matter, you can back out at any point and your teammates still have a chance. But if you stay in, you cannot receive medical attention excepting in cases of chakra burnout, broken limbs, seals, minor cuts, or headaches. And-"

"I'm too injured to fight, can I quit now?" A voice Sasuke recognized said. Everyone turned around to stare at Kabuto.

"Sure." The Jonin nodded, dismissing him, and Kabuto limped away. "Anyway, you are going to have to fight against another person in this room, one-on-one, if anyone interferes that is not your Jonin sensei, the fight will be postponed until all of the others have been completed to make it fair, if a Jonin sensei intervenes then his student is disqualified. Killing is not recommended, but allowed. Remember, you may quit at any time." He then held out, in front of him, a dusty brown bowler hat filled with scraps of paper. "So, just pick a number." He put the hat in front of the first person in line.

It was a female from Konoha, but she curled her lip in distaste at the sight of the hat. "I have to put my hand in _that_ ugly thing?" She moaned.

Sasuke immediately recognized her. He spent a long moment taking in the mood coating every surface of her body, the sticks in her hair, the tattered clothing, and he nearly laughed aloud when he saw that Choji and Shikamaru were similarly attired. "That's Ino." He whispered to Naruto, who was staring, confused at the girl.

"Just pick a number and say it out loud." The coughing Jonin said into his pink handkerchief.

"Four." Growled Ino.

"Six." Said Choji, then he wiped dirt from his eyes and said, "Wait, sixteen."

"Two." Shikamaru drawled.

A team from Sound picked their numbers and then it was Team Seven's turn. "One," said Naruto, chuckling slightly as she seemed to find that funny.

Sasuke picked a number, glaring at the Preliminary Proctor as he did so, finding the man suspicious for some reason. "Forty-two." He read. _Forty-two?_

"Seven." Said Sakura.

The Proctor moved onto the next row.

"Fifteen." A girl said.

"Nineteen." A boy said.

Gaara picked his number next, using sand to bring the slip of paper to his hand. He unwrapped it slowly, and dramatically for some reason. When he saw it, he smirked. "My, my, my." He chuckled, "It seems… that I… have unlucky little number…" He leaned forward so Naruto, in front of him, could hear him clearly, "_Nine._" He whispered, "Maybe we should switch?"

"Leave her alone!" Sasuke hissed, stepping toward them, but the Proctor's hand was on his shoulder and he stopped him. The Proctor stared at Gaara for a long moment, and then at Naruto.

For some reason, Gaara appeared to have unsettled everyone in the room wearing a Leaf or Sand headband, excluding the rookies from Konoha.

The coughing Jonin walked past Gaara, painfully obviously suppressing a shiver, and he held the hat out to the next person.

When they were done passing out the numbers, the ninja were ordered to report to their Jonin sensei. Sasuke, grabbing Naruto's wrist, immediately pulled her away from the red-head, and he flashed his Sharingan at the ninja again. Gaara flinched, again, but he didn't back down. "Come on." Sasuke whispered to her. Naruto, unsettled, didn't resist, and allowed him to lead her up the stairs and to their sensei. When they reached Kakashi's bench, the Jonin was reading his book as a greeting.

"Sensei!" Sakura cried. "It's great to see you!" She sat down at the bench, nervously tapping her wrist. "Who do you suppose is going to go first? Do you have any advice for me?"

Kakashi shrugged, "Quit, you all look like you've been through a cart-wreck." Naruto and Sasuke sat down on the bench. Sasuke stared at Sakura for a moment, wondering how she missed the suspicious exchange between Gaara and Naruto that had apparently shocked even the Hokage, but the pink-haired girl didn't notice his attentions. "How are you? Any trouble getting the scroll?"

"Gaara, the red-head with the Suna headband, he gave the scroll to us, we were attacked by a sannin, the man who quit brought us to the Tower, and we all have serious leg cramps from being holed up in that dusky room for three days." Sakura replied flippantly.

"That's nice." Kakashi said, not responding at all as he turned a page.

"Were you even listening to me?" Sakura demanded.

"No." Kakashi said, setting his book down and blinking at them. "What is-" He froze, apparently catching sight of Sasuke for the first time. "What is that on your neck?" Kakashi asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Sasuke said, "We were attacked by a sannin in the Forest of Death, doesn't that call for some attention."

"Yes." Kakashi agreed, "Sasuke, come with me."

"But," Naruto protested, "We're not supposed to leave."

"You can for medical attention, and this falls under one of the specifications." Kakashi said, he was suddenly incredibly serious, not flippant or relaxed like he'd been a scant moment ago.

"Which one?" Sasuke asked, but Kakashi ignored him.

"Asuma-san!" He called out, "Watch my students for me; I need to help Sasuke-kun." Asuma looked up from where he'd been attempting to pull a stick out of a screaming Ino's hair and stared at Kakashi in confusion.

Sasuke and Kakashi left, leaving Sakura, practically in hysterics, and Naruto, too deep in thought, alone at the bench, awaiting the call which would announce them as gladiators. The Proctor in the center was reading some kind of a non-disclosure form, and no one was listening to anything he said, having understood the basic gist of it which was 'you signed up for this, if you get injured and die or something like that you cannot start a blood feud against the Proctor or the village of Konoha'.

Naruto took a deep breath, she tried calming herself down by chuckling at Ino's predicament, or thinking of puppies and rainbows, but she couldn't help the terrible, plaguing thought that Gaara _knew_. _What did he mean by trading the numbers?_

She wanted Sasuke next to her again.

* * *

Kakashi led Sasuke to a room with a strange symbol on the ground. He sat Sasuke down in the center, and then walked to a jar and picked up a handful of ink. "What did this sannin look like? Did he have snakes with him?"

Sasuke nodded, "Giant snakes. Naruto-chan killed one, and then Sakura and Naruto-chan killed the other, I was… I was fighting him, and he talked and said some things I don't remember very well, and he bit my neck. Then Naruto-chan was fighting him, and there was some kind of purple thing on my eyes, and I fainted."

"How long were you unconscious?"

"A few hours, I don't know, it was dark when I fainted and light when I woke up, Sakura-chan didn't specify time." Sasuke tried to be professional and Anbu-like during the exchange, but as he watched his sensei make some sort-of symbol in the ground he couldn't help himself, "I can still participate in the Exams?" he asked nervously.

"I wouldn't recommend it," Kakashi said, "But I know you will anyway, and it's up to you."

"I'm not quitting."

Kakashi sighed, "I think I need to change that respect," the cyclops smiled, "But I have a few more years with you yet, whether you pass or not."

"I will pass." Sasuke informed him, determined.

"I doubt it. But it's not like it's a bad sign, even getting this far is a great achievement for a rookie." Kakashi informed him, painstakingly slowly, he began to form a massive collection of hand signs. "You have a seal on your neck, I can't get rid of it, but I will put a block on it to stop it from affecting you."

"All of the other rookies made it too," Sasuke said, ignoring Kakashi's last sentence, "It's not that much of an achievement when the entire graduating class makes it."

Kakashi shook his head. "There was that other team that was apprenticed directly in the Interrogation Division; they didn't even take the Exams this round." Sasuke rolled his eyes and Kakashi frowned at him, "Sasuke-kun, you don't need to worry about passing now, the point of taking this Exam as a rookie is to learn about enemy ninja, to practice as a team in a strenuous environment, and to learn your strengths and weaknesses on your own."

Sasuke glared at him. "The point of this is to become a Chunin, so I can be stronger."

Kakashi sighed, "This is going to hurt," he said, and he made the last hand sign.

* * *

By the time Sasuke returned, Sakura was now breathing heavily in terror, the device/jutsu/thing which would inform them who went when and against whom was up and running, and Naruto had stared at the same spot on the ground without moving for practically three entire minutes.

Kakashi entered first, sitting down on the bench, he whispered, "Calm down," to Sakura, and then pulled out his book.

Sasuke sat down next to Naruto. The orange-clad girl could tell instantly that he smelled of sweat and chakra, and he was shaking slightly, but appeared to be calmer than he had before. "Are you okay?" Naruto whispered.

"Yes," Sasuke lied.

And then the Proctor announced that the Exams were to begin. He held up two pieces of paper and cried out, "The first match is…" Someone ran up to him and whispered something into his ear. The Proctor coughed. "I'm sorry, that person is out of commission." He reached down into his pocket and pulled out another slip of paper, carelessly dropping the other on the ground.

"The first match is between… Shikamaru Nara and Sasuke Uchiha!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Note, the matches are done completely randomly, and um… sorry, but they're not the same as in the original, it'd get boring, trust me. And I am doing my best to create a good story, so I don't want to steal completely from the original. The story is mine! MINE! (Well… mine**_**ish**_**…)**

**That made me feel like including a disclaimer…**

**Um, I don't own Naruto. Duh. Anyone who thought I did is an idiot, I could never draw that well.**

**The numbers thing with Gaara and Naruto… Naruto got number 1 (as in, One-Tailed Raccoon) and Gaara got number 9 (as in Nine-Tailed Fox). **

**Thank you person who informed me that Sannin is capitalized, I am forever in your debt, I no longer cringe with the terrible fear of an obsessive English student possibly spelling a word wrong, oh the horror!**

**Now, this takes a while, but after this chappie there's only two more matches and it's over.**

* * *

This is written normally so people who skip over the beginning won't miss this. The 'reveal' thing is coming up, but there are other things to get through first, I plan on it being soon though, don't have a heart attack, I don't want the lawsuit.

* * *

_I'm first?_ Sasuke thought, his heart skipping a beat. Someone's hand grabbed his and gave it a comforting squeeze, but he just blinked and stared into space. His aching neck and back moaned against the idea of fighting now, but he stood up. Naruto's slender fingers let go of his, and she smiled nervously at the back of his head. "Good luck." She whispered.

Sasuke shook slightly when he stood up due to a sudden wave of dizziness and a painful shock emanating from his neck, but he refused to allow it to show. He nodded to Naruto to reassure her, and then to his sensei. Then, walking past the other teams, be leisurely made his way to the center of the room.

His leisurely walk, however, was incredibly fast compared to the pace that Shikamaru was making, considering he was still pulling clumps of mud and sticks out of his ponytail. By the time the two ninja were down on the center of the floor and facing each other all of their spectators were growing exceedingly impatient.

"Huh," Shikamaru drawled, staring at Sasuke, "This is going to be troublesome."

"Tell me about it." Sasuke nodded.

"Combatants," said the Jonin, coughing, "Remember, you are representing your village, fight cleanly, to the best of your ability, and in accordance with the rules. Are you ready?"

"Yes." Sasuke said immediately, adopting a quick stance.

Shikamaru sighed for a long moment, stared at Sasuke, turned to stare at Asuma, stared at the roof, and then sighed when someone in the balcony screamed at him to 'go already'. "Well," he mumbled and shrugged, "Sure, I guess. Mom'll kill me if I don't at least try."

"Okay then," the Jonin said, pausing to cough, "Begin." And he jumped out of the way.

Sasuke rushed forward, determined to get the first punch. He sprang out with his fist and slightly grazed Shikamaru's jaw before the shadow genin could even react. Startled at Sasuke's sudden increase in speed, both Sasuke and Shikamaru hesitated for a long moment, but the Uchiha recovered first and made a powerful jab to Shikamaru's stomach, followed by a kick to his ankles.

The jab to the stomach connected, and Shikamaru flew backward onto the ground, taking the blow, leaving Sasuke to kick at the air. Startled by his own increase in strength when he was actually feeling tired, Sasuke paused long enough for Shikamaru to get to his feet. The shadow user stumbled backwards, but quickly adopted a blocking form, analytically staring at Sasuke.

From the stands, Ino, Choji, Sakura, and Naruto were standing up, eagerly watching the fight from the railings. Ino cried out, "Go Sasuke-kun!" while Choji yelled, "Go Shika, go!" to make up for her incredible rudeness. Naruto glared at her, and when the pale-eyed girl turned she locked her eyes in a gaze containing one blue eye and one purple. Ino, remembering the caring way which Sasuke had looked over Naruto, and then everything from Naruto bandaging Sasuke's hand to the rumors of the Uchiha's crush, and her eyes narrowed.

Ignorant of anything not involving their fight, the two boys didn't even hesitate. Sasuke ran to Shikamaru and began to pound away at the shadow user's defense. However, both boys had fought each other numerous times in the Academy, and since Sasuke's style hadn't changed at all because it was the style used by all Uchiha and Shikamaru was too lazy to practice and improve his, they were both evenly matched enough that Sasuke could not get past Shikamaru's defense and Shikamaru could not manage to break his defensive stance to get a hit in.

Knowing they were at a standstill, Sasuke jumped backward. He reached out for a chakra and formed a collection of seals, "Pheonix Flower Jutsu!" He growled.

Eyes widening, the shadow user moved faster than he had ever wanted to, forming three rapid seals and yelling, "Shadow Style: Art of the Shield!"

As a giant fire ball extended from a point on Sasuke's fingers, the shadow from the wall moved and covered Shikamaru, causing the relentless fire to cascade around the edges of the shield. Surprisingly, Sasuke quickly felt the drain on his chakra and he was forced to forgo the jutsu if he wanted to have any left over.

Almost immediately after he stopped, Shikamaru started to form another seal, this time whispering the name so Sasuke could not hear it. The shadow which was previously a shield returned to its place on the floor, this time extending out toward Sasuke in the shape of a claw.

Sasuke jumped out of the way of the impending shadow and formed another handseal, this time allowing him to hold a ball of white fire in his hand. As the shadow reached toward him, Sasuke held the ball of fire out in front of him like a lantern, and the shadow couldn't penetrate it. Shikamaru swung the shadow around, trying to break Sasuke's defenses from the back, but the Uchiha merely poured some of the fire into his other hand and blocked from both directions. Sweat poured from the foreheads of both boys in their contest of stamina.

* * *

Naruto was fidgeting by Kakashi's side, having turned around to sit down and then sat back up nearly twelve times since the start of the fight in ever increasing intervals. "Relax," Kakashi advised, "Sasuke knows what he's doing."

However, Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong, and an uncomfortable anxiety caused her to stare around the room, seeing everyone, even the Hokage, as a potential threat for a reason she didn't understand. The same restlessness from earlier was emerging, and it was such an unpleasant itch that she could barely stand watching Sasuke fight, alone, helpless. It took nearly every ounce of her self-control to restrain herself from jumping down to help him.

And again, she stood up, sat down, and then stood up to watch from the railings.

* * *

Then, horribly, Sasuke ran nearly completely out of chakra.

It came out as a complete and utter shock, but suddenly he didn't have enough chakra to sustain the lantern jutsu. The problem with that jutsu was, the balls didn't disappear. He only realized what was going on when they started to burn him, and so, instinctively, he dropped them to allow them to simmer on the ground and die out. His hands throbbing with a pain that would only get worse later on, Sasuke watched the shadow come toward him.

He ran, his only possibly action, along the floor and then, using his angle, along the wall, jumping from the wall to the floor to keep from becoming an easy target. Then, once he'd reached the far wall, he jumped to the ground and used that to gain as much speed as he possibly could. Sparking himself on with a slight jump of wild chakra, Sasuke ran straight up the wall.

In a move that he rarely managed in a battle, Shikamaru blinked, confused as to what Sasuke was doing, since it was inconceivable for him that the Uchiha ran out of chakra so fast. Then, as his mind, on its own, contemplated Sasuke's angle and the rate at which Shikamaru's shadow was following him, the shadow user, too late to react, understood.

Sasuke, losing momentum, kicked off of the wall and flipped backwards. He activated his Sharingan by using the last of his chakra, using the Sharingan to guide himself to land directly behind Shikamaru.

In the split second as he fell, the Sharingan suddenly shifted, changing Sasuke's course so he was going to fall practically directly on Shikamaru. Using the throw of a kunai, Sasuke propelled himself, and as he fell he managed to grab Shikamaru's collar and slam the shadow user into the ground, but he fell awkwardly on his legs and one of his ankles twisted as he fell. Both boys cried out in pain.

Shikamaru, groggily, formed a handseal when he saw Sasuke stand up and come toward him, and the resulting jutsu caused him to disappear and reappear across the room. Breathing heavily, the two boys stared at each other even as Sasuke wondered how he'd walk across the room and the back of Shikamaru's head grew slick with blood.

"I surrender."

The Jonin coughed, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru sighed, "Quite frankly, beating Sasuke-kun was a long shot for me, and now, in either of our conditions, I'd never win and he'd kill his leg. Especially, considering only just now did Sasuke use the Sharingan." He nodded respectfully to Sasuke, who nodded back. "I, Shikamaru Nara, resign from the Chunin Exams." Shikamaru said, and then he fainted.

* * *

By the time the medic nins came in, stopped Shikamaru's bleeding, put him on a stretcher, and wrapped Sasuke's ankle, a rather long time had passed, but the floor was relatively unscathed excepted for two burn marks and a small pool of blood. All of the ninja were feeling slightly queasy as they watched a completely impassive janitor mop up the blood, and those who were superstitious were thinking of backing out.

Sasuke was sitting back on the bench, Ino and Sakura congratulating him, Kakashi asking questions in his ear about his condition, and Naruto sitting next to him. So, not caring if he was being rude, he leaned against Naruto and closed his eyes, as if in sleep.

* * *

"The next fight," the Proctor announced, "Is between…" He coughed. "Wait," he mumbled, and he fell into a sudden coughing fit.

"Sheesh," Ino mumbled, "Why is this guy proctor anyway? My _dad_ would have been better, and he runs a flower shop while my _mom's_ the ninja." She rolled her eyes, and then blinked angrily at Sasuke, who was ignoring them all and leaning against Naruto.

Catching her eye, Naruto couldn't help but quip, "Your father sounds sexually questionable."

"A guy can be straight and like flowers!" Ino snapped.

"Look, I like flowers as much as any girl," Naruto said seriously, "but if I was a guy, I doubt I'd be crazy over plants."

Ino stuck out her tongue, "I bet you would, you'd probably be gay too." She growled.

"But," Naruto smirked, "Sasuke-kun would still prefer me over you."

"Liar!" Ino yelled, "Sasuke-kun, would never-"

Sasuke mumbled something unintelligible, his head still leaning against Naruto's shoulder.

"Where did this spark from, Ino-chan?" Sakura giggled.

"You! Sasuke-kun! That is not funny!" Ino yelled, "I am-"

Then, as it had happened occasionally in the Academy, Ino and Sakura would get in a fight for a reason neither of them really understood and then scream half sentences at each other, so every Konoha rookie moaned the moment they heard this, knowing that the two were about to start, and they didn't disappoint.

"You are such-"

"I said you-"

"Ugly little-"

"Pig thing with-"

"Billboard brow stupid-"

"Little think you know everything-"

"I do know every-"

"Don't you dare-"

"I told you-"

"Stupid-"

"Angry-"

"Little-"

"Hatred-"

"Dumb blonde-"

"Dumb pinkette-"

"I said-"

"No, I said-"

"I hate-"

"You're stupid-"

"SHUT UP!" The two girls yelled together, and then, yelled, again together, "YOU SHUT UP! OH, YOU'RE SO…. ARGH!" And Ino walked to the right while Sakura walked to the left, the two girls refusing to look at each other.

The Jonin proctor having just had yet another coughing fit and announced the names, stared up at the fighting girls with a mix of repulsion and amusement. "Did anyone hear the next match over that?" He wondered, and when no one responded, he sighed, "Okay, I guess…" he coughed and then announced, "Once again, the next match is Kankuro of the Sand and Sakura Haruno."

Ino immediately spun around, wrapped her arms around Sakura in a hug and cried, "Good luck!" at the top of her lungs.

Naruto's jaw dropped, "What?" She explained.

Choji sighed, understanding, "Women are crazy, aren't they?"

"_I'm_ a woman." Naruto reminded him, glaring.

Choji stared at her expression for a long moment, and then began to back up slowly.

"Wish me luck?" Sakura asked, interrupting.

Naruto nodded, standing up to hug her. "Good luck, Sakura-chan, kick his ass for us!" She grinned. Sakura opened her mouth to make a comment about language, but then relented to hug her teammate.

Sasuke had fallen to the bench and hit his head on the wood when Naruto stood up, and he groggily reached out for something to balance himself with, but Sakura, seeing his hand, took it and shook it, saying, "Oh, thank you Sasuke-kun!" before bouncing away leaving the dizzy Uchiha sorely confused.

Sakura took in a deep breath, and walked down the stairs, nodding at everyone as she walked past them and they smiled or nodded at her, she walked down the steps, mimicking the pace the other person was going, so they were there in less than a quarter of the speed it took Sasuke and Shikamaru.

Sakura smirked as she saw the person she was about to fight, "Hey," she whispered only loud enough for him to hear, "Aren't you the transvestite?"

The sudden look of rage on the older boy's painted face was a source of incredible satisfaction, what he said next, however, was not, "I'd object to fighting a girl, but I really want to kill you at this point."

Sakura was battling all of her instincts which told her to run away in the other direction, screaming as she did so, so she only managed to smirk. But that was apparently enough of a retort, the older boy was practically howling with rage.

The Jonin coughed, rolled his eyes, and said, "Combatants, remember you are representing your village, fight cleanly, to the best of your ability, and in accordance with the rules, are you ready?"

Sakura nodded and Kankuro nodded as well.

The Jonin glared at them, "You have to say 'yes' for the lawyers."

"Yes." Kankuro said.

"Yes." Sakura said.

"Then, go and fight… or whatever…" The Proctor informed them, leisurely walking back to his position at the edge of the room.

Sakura stepped back and hesitated, but Kankuro didn't make a move, relinquishing 'first blood' to her. Remembering her studies, Sakura realized that it was likely to be a trap or a psychological move to get her off guard. She formed two hand seals, creating a light chakra shield across her vital areas that would slow down any attack, and then she waited.

Kankuro fiddled with a bandage from the large pack on his back.

Deciding that if she didn't move she was going to go insane from nerves, Sakura decided to take the bait. She reached down to her leg holder and pulled out three kunai she had separated for the other, then, it was time for her show. She held out the kunai like she was going to throw them, but then she took a step backward and stepped awkwardly on her leg, causing the kunai to drastically miss their target so bad that Kankuro merely stepped slightly to one side to avoid them. One kunai landed feet in front of him, another in the wall to the left of him, and one to the right of Kankuro, directly over the floor, forming a lopsided triangle.

Kankuro pulled the string from his pack that he'd been fingering, and in a split second the pack unraveled and a wooden arm shot our at Sakura, and it would have injured her if it wasn't slightly deterred on her shield, giving her enough time to break away. Sakura, having the chakra shield broken, was forced to reapply it. Kankuro, the rest of the bandages unraveled, swung a huge wooden mass in front of him using a light blue chakra strand connected to his fingers. He smirked, "This, little girlie, is the pride of the Sand Village! Puppets!"

The puppet's mouth dropped, and it rushed at Sakura, appearing to bleed a strange green gas. Sakura, not being able to help herself, whimpered, but she had enough presence of mind to form a hand seal. "Bunshin jutsu!" Sakura cried, and suddenly four other of her appeared in a shroud of smoke.

Kankuro blinked, and he and his puppet froze for a long moment, "Ah," he realized, "Clones, the Leaf Village's special little trick, well, that's nothing to mine!" He took a few steps forward to get a better angle, but suddenly something jerked against his stomach and the puppet-user flipped over, slamming his legs against the floor.

Everyone watching, not any above jonin level however, had a similar thought, _What the…?_

Sakura smirked. "I set up that trap," she informed him, "Those kunai were tied together with ninja wire, making a triangle I reinforced with my chakra. It's a trick I learned from my aunt, an artificial cage; you can't break out no matter how hard you try, but things like kunai and shuriken can get in."

Kankuro, instead of being frightened like Sakura expected, laughed. "Nice trick, sweetheart, would have worked on anyone from Konoha, I bet," he said, "I'm a _puppet_ user and my puppet's on _your_ side. Sorry, I'm from Suna, the… _superior_ village."

Sakura saw her shadow flicker, and she turned around, facing Kankuro's puppet, whose mouth was wide open, revealing three layers of kunai. She stepped backward, fumbling for a weapon.

Kakashi's voice rang out, "The match is over, we admit defeat." He called out.

The puppet immediately retracted. The Proctor made a note on his board, and a few people who'd been looking forward to more blood moaned in disappointment.

"Care to help me out?" Kankuro asked.

Sakura, realizing she'd lost, blushed furiously and tugged on one of the kunai, pulling it out of the ground and dispelling it with a hand seal. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she knocked it off instantly with a taijutsu stance, glaring at Kankuro.

The puppet user merely chuckled, "I was just going to say, nice match, you're probably going to be a killer ninja some day."

"Thanks." Sakura said, blinking.

Kankuro smirked at her bemused expression, "Hey, just 'cause I'm from Suna doesn't mean I'm bloodthirsty and evil," his expression changed to be void of emotion, and he looked up at the balcony, seeing a tuft of blood-red hair, "Though… we do have those who fit that description, but, you have one on your team, don't you?"

"Someone bloodthirsty and evil?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah," Kankuro whispered, "One of _them_, right? The monster-people."

Sakura shook her head, "No, I don't. My teams as normal as can be… except we do have two girls, instead of two boys…"

"The blonde one, isn't she a-"

"Clear the arena." The Proctor interrupted, practically standing in front of the two. He was glaring, both at Kankuro and at Sakura, so the two left immediately.

* * *

"The next match," the Proctor announced, and then he had a coughing fit long enough to put nearly everyone on their toes, "is Hinata Hyuuga versus Kiba Inuzuka."

Nearly everyone from Konoha blinked in surprise while Hinata and Kiba looked like they'd been stunned or punched in the face by a sumo wrestler.

"Go." Their sensei, Kurenai, told them.

"This is bad." Ino whispered.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, they're on the same team and all."

Ino rolled her eyes, "No, it's bad because they're together, you know? Dating?"

"Hinata-chan and Kiba-kun? But Hinata-chan's so shy… and Kiba-kun's so loud." Naruto said, confused.

Ino smirked, "Well, Sasuke's cool and you're a dork, Pudgy-chan, so things work out in weird ways, don't they?"

Naruto jumped up to hit her when they heard the Proctor announce, "Combatants, remember that you are representing your village, fight cleanly, in accordance with the rules, and to the best of your ability, are you ready?"

"Yes," said a quiet, quivering voice.

"Um… yeah, I mean 'Yes'," a voice, louder that the other, said.

"Well… begin." The Proctor informed them. It seemed, with Ino's words, that everyone's attention sparked on the fight and the background of it that was truly none of their business. Even Sasuke, his ankle still hurting, limped over to watch the fight by Naruto's side, although that might have been an excuse to be near her again.

"They fight frequently." Shino interrupted. Everyone, who couldn't believe the silent bug-user from Kiba and Hinata's team was talking, turned around. "Our sensei has us skirmish each other to build up strength," he informed them.

The attention turned back to the floor, where Kiba and Hinata had both yet to move. Akamaru, Kiba's dog, apparently, had no such reservations; he snapped out of Kiba's grasp and, at his owner's side, barked loudly to get his attention. "Are… are you ready?" Kiba asked her quietly; just loud enough that only Naruto's sensitive ears could catch on.

"I… I'm not going to lose." Hinata replied.

Kiba smiled, "Me neither."

Hinata adopted a fighting stance, and Kiba formed a handseal as he crouched next to Akamaru.

"Byakugon!" Hinata cried, bringing two fingers up to the front of her nose, and from her eyes veins spread out, marring her flawless white skin.

Kiba smirked, "TSUUNGA!" He shouted, and, after a sudden burst of smoke cleared, two Kiba's were standing in front of her. Unfortunately it was plainly obvious to figure out who was who, one of the Kiba's was smiling adoringly at Hinata while the other looked like it wanted to rip her throat out.

For a long, drawn out moment, the two stared silently at each other, but, as if someone had shouted 'Now!' the two ran at each other at the exact same time. The two Kibas fought together flawlessly, jumping over the other for a powerful uppercut while one of them kicked her, but Hinata dodged, jabbing the flying Kiba in the side.

They continued this way for a while, the two Kibas barely managing to scrap a hit on her as Hinata managed to continuously block them, jabbing him with her fingers whenever he got to close. "Hm," Shino said, "Interesting, neither one is willing to go for the winning shot, there have been several times where Kiba-kun or Hinata-chan would have made it."

"Oh, so they're going easy on each other?" Ino rolled her eyes, "Figures, Hinata-chan was never as good as Kiba."

Shino glared at her threw his sunglasses, "Actually, Akamaru has no reservations and he dislikes Hinata-chan quite a lot, she had to fight off both Kiba-kun and Akamaru-kun. Hinata-chan has improved quite a lot since the Academy days, as I'm sure we all have."

Ino paled, "Well, I'm sure everyone is basically the same-"

"No," Shino said, "We're all better, otherwise we would never have made it this far."

"Really?" Naruto wondered.

Shino sighed, "Yes, even you, Naruto-chan."

"I wasn't talking about _that_," Naruto said, "I was talking about _them_." She gestured to the floor, where Kiba and Hinata had seized fighting, Kiba holding onto Akamaru's jacket to keep him from trying to kill Hinata.

"You can hear them?" Shino asked, impressed.

"She has crazy good hearing." Sakura informed them. "_Inuzuka_ good."

"Really?" Choji asked, "How come?"

Naruto paled for a moment, and then smiled brightly, "The curse of the _demons_!" She joked.

"Ha ha." Choji rolled his eyes.

"What did they say?" Ino asked.

Naruto shrugged, "Well, Kiba-kun's throwing the tournament; he said 'It means more to you than it does to me, and I can't keep rabid Akamaru-kun off your back for much longer'."

Sakura and Ino made an 'Aw!' sound that started out high-pitched and grew even higher. "That's _sooo _sweet." Ino exclaimed.

"I think it's dumb." Naruto mumbled.

"I agree." Sasuke nodded.

She smiled at him, "So if we ever have to fight each other, you'll go all out?" Sasuke's pallor skin tone turned pink and he didn't answer. Naruto frowned at him, "You'd fight me, _right_?" She pressed.

"I… might."

Naruto glared at him.

The next sound from the floor interrupted them, "I, Kiba Inuzuka," Kiba announced, "Forfeit the match to Hinata Hyuuga."

The Proctor sighed, "Idiots." He mumbled and then coughed, "Alright, go see a medic nin."

Hinata smiled at Kiba, "Thanks." She whispered.

"Wow, Kiba-kun's a cool guy." Sakura said.

Shino rolled his eyes, a thousand contradictions to that statement on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't bother mentioning them, since he was never much of a conversationalist. He merely waited and greeted his teammates when they arrived, and informed them, in exactly three sentences, just how idiotic he thought their actions were, which resulted in Kiba giving him a large, extremely unwelcome, bear hug.

As everyone went to either congratulate Hinata or to brood in a corner over the two most prevalent subjects in the room, love and war, Naruto turned to Sasuke, who was still leaning against her, "You wouldn't fight me?" She asked.

Sasuke looked up at her, "Well," he said, "if I had to, but I'd rather not."

"Why?" She asked.

Sasuke gulped and took in a breath of air, completely ready to say three words that he was certain had some binding magical curse on them, but he opened his mouth-

Two sets of loud giggling interrupted them, and both Sasuke and Naruto turned to the noise to see Hinata and Kiba in a very affectionate embrace, arms encircling each other and faces so pressed together that it was difficult to tell them apart, even as Akamaru barked and bit Kiba's foot.

Faces bright red, Sasuke and Naruto pulled away from each other for a long moment, looking anywhere than at each other or the couple who was being broken up by their sensei as Kurenai howled something about 'being unprofessional in a room full of enemy ninjas!'.

* * *

The next two matches no one on the Konoha balcony paid attention to. A girl on Kankuro's team fought a person from Sound, and exempt from the flashy jutsu in the battle and the occasional quip coming from the blonde Suna ninja, there was nothing interesting for the Konoha ninja.

Ino brought Sasuke a pillow and a glass of water, as well as news that Shikamaru's head injury was pretty minor, it only bled a lot because that's what head injuries did, but he was in the hospital and his father was there. Sasuke was forced to give up his excuse to be near Naruto, and had to make use of the pillow.

Everyone's apparent ill-ease, yet friendly nature, appeared to confuse their senseis, but if they were doing anything wrong no one mentioned it. The large number of people who had yet to go congratulated Sakura, and then just waited.

After the blonde girl from Suna won, the medic's mopped up some blood and then the Proctor announced the next match. The next match was a Grass ninja and a Sound ninja, and the Konoha ninja, at this point, just sipped some complementary water and watched the fight, while running over the list of all of the jutsu's and tricks they had prepared.

Finally, after the Sound ninja won, the Proctor called out a match with a Konoha ninja. He coughed and announced, "Choji Akimichi…" then paused. A few people clapped Choji on the back and told him 'good luck'. Then the Proctor announced his opponent, "Gaara no Sabaku." Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto's eyes widened.

A jinchuuriki with blood red hair smirked, a tinge of insanity in his eyes, as he surveyed his opponent.


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the wait. It could not be helped. But, it's not as bad as some authors I've read (who've waited for practically a year before updating) so I'm sure your wrath will be slight. And before you try to kill me, I will cryptically inform you that the 'real-life-interference' did include a hospital (for ME) and much pain. Ambulances are fun to ride in, but not when you're injured. To all** **you fans** **out there, the climax shall be arriving shortly, but not so shortly you won't notice when it does. Now, since I'm not half as important to you as the story is…**

* * *

As soon as his name was called out, Choji jumped to his feet, dropping the bag of chips he'd been munching on. "Oh yeah!" Choji yelled, "Finally, it's my turn!"

"Quiet down, you idiot!" Ino growled at him, "We're representing Konoha, remember!"

Choji just grinned at her in a very Choji-like way, and pretended to flux muscles that weren't really there as was characteristic of his unending delusion that fat was actually muscle.

"Be careful." Sasuke said seriously.

Choji turned to him, confused, because Sasuke rarely spoke to him, and the larger genin could probably count on two hands how many times Sasuke bothered to speak to him in the Academy. Choji just kept the maniacal grin on his face, "Come on! It's just some sand guy; he doesn't even look our age."

"He isn't." Naruto replied, "But he killed more people in the Forest of Death than I care to count and he has a… a bloodline that makes his own village terrified of him." She stared down at the floor, where Gaara had already arrived and was waiting, expectantly, for his opponent.

Choji blinked rapidly, "What?" He asked.

Sasuke glared at him. "Be careful," the Uchiha warned.

"Oh," Choji said, "Okay."

Naruto just leaned back, glanced for a moment at her sensei, and tried to breathe. She was trying her best not to be paranoid, but even though the other jinchuuriki, Gaara, wasn't looking at her, she felt like he was staring at her with a dark presence, to the point where she just shut her eyes and leaned against Sasuke to calm herself down.

Choji, after smiling at some people, made his way to the bottom, taking far less time to get there than his lazy teammate had.

The Proctor, making sure both of the boys were facing each other and prepared, mumbled a disinterested, "Begin."

When Gaara didn't move first, Choji stepped back and smiled, "I'm looking forward to fighting you," he said, "Let's make it a good match, but don't think that means I'm going easy on you. I'm from the legendary Akimichi clan and I-"

"Mother thirsts for your blood." Gaara interrupted.

Choji's forehead wrinkled in confusion, "_What_?"

The impassive Gaara grinned wickedly, "I shall bathe this ground in the liquid of your veins as an offering to the goddess of hatred."

"_What_?" Choji repeated.

"Die." Gaara said calmly. Choji flinched, stepping back from the red-headed genin. "I said," Gaara grinned, "_Die._"

"Well," Choji gulped. "I'm not about to just drop down and do that on your command, am I?"

* * *

Up in the stands, Naruto and Sasuke were holding their breath, having been the only two to fully experience the true depth of Gaara's power.

Ino snorted. "This guy thinks he's so cool," she rolled her eyes, "I've seen Choji fight, he'll win."

"How can you say that when you don't have any idea what moves the guy has?" Kiba asked her, leaning in to join the conversation.

"Because," Ino flipped her hair, "Choji's good, even if he doesn't exercise enough and eats too much barbeque." Kiba nodded and was about to reply when Naruto interrupted them.

"Gaara isn't faking it, he's serious." She said. The two, as well as many of the others look at her quizzically, so she continued. "He's not 'trash talking'." Naruto informed them, "He means every word he says. If Choji lasts any time at all it's a miracle. We saw him take down an entire team without lifting a finger."

"We?" Kiba asked.

"Sasuke and I." Naruto said.

Sasuke nodded, "He's much stronger than an average genin."

"He's much stronger than an average Jonin." Naruto mumbled.

* * *

The teal-eyed Suna ninja was just staring at Choji, not moving, while Choji attempted to keep eye contact, like his father had taught him, but kept accidentally blinking. Gaara's mouth was moving, as if he was talking to someone silently, but he was not forming normal words, so it was impossible to read his lips, since his actions were more like the ramblings of an insane person than a deaf one. Choji was wracking his mind about any sort of bloodline that would cause such insane symptoms, but he couldn't remember anything except for a strand of the Byakugon which occasionally caused insanity, but it was very unlikely that the Suna nin had a Konohagakure bloodline, something his father told him years ago about a crazy jinchuuriki rampaging some village in a war, and Choji wasn't sure at all what the jinchuuriki bloodline was, or the Starshine bloodline, which disappeared during the last ninja war.

Then, as if responding to an unheard command, the gourd on the Suna ninja's back seemed to shatter noiselessly and fall to the ground as tendrils of sand, catching the light of the lantern to create an eerie fire-glow, even in the well-lit room. "I was looking forward to killing something." Gaara said in complete monotone.

Choji was about to argue that killing was against the rules when he realized, with a sickening stomach, that it wasn't.

The sand lunged forward, if a pile of sand could lunge, and reached out, in the shape of a giant hand, toward the Akimichi. With a small cry, Choji dove out of its way at the last possible second, causing the sand to erupt against one of the walls with such force that the platform over it shook slightly. Panting, Choji stared at the sand, which was immobile, and silently hoped that that was the end of the strange attack.

Contrary to no one's expectations, the sand lifted itself against the wall, and this time reaching out toward the Akimichi like an octopus, chased after Choji. The Akimichi hollered, not caring about appearances, "What the hell am I supposed to do to fight sand, sensei?"

* * *

Up in the stands, Ino dropped her head in her hands at the antics of her teammate and Asuma started to smoke.

* * *

The sand, slowing down a bit, fairly chased Choji up and down the room, obviously toying with him, a fact that any spectator was easy to notice.

Gaara, not even bothering to pretend like he was paying attention, scanned the balcony for a blonde braid, and once he found it he continued to keep her location in mind.

* * *

Naruto stood up, walked around, and then leaned over the railing the watch the fight, horribly frightened for Choji's sake, but, for a reason she couldn't explain, terrified for Gaara's.

* * *

Finally, the sand stopped chasing Choji. Still, dead, it hovered in the air in the undefined shape of a cloud, directly over the head of the Akimichi. Then it dropped onto the large genin, covering him with a solid, unbreachable barrier, causing Choji to look like a statue of himself as he slowly stopped struggling to be enveloped.

As if for a magic trick, the sand form of Choji suddenly dropped the ground, like Choji had never been there.

Someone in the crowd, guessing Choji died, gasped loudly, but the two Sand Siblings were looking on in confusion.

Gaara merely nodded. "Ah, yes. A clone."

Then Choji, bursting out of his hiding place into clear sight, jumped into the air and began to spin, shouting something no one could hear clearly, but some could guess. The Akimichi spinning faster and faster, suddenly shot out, surging, faster than anyone thought the large genin could ever move, directly at Gaara, who just curled his lip in disgust.

The human boulder, just as he was about to reach the Suna genin, suddenly struck a wall of sand so strong that it had the power to repel him, and Choji bounced backward, hitting the doors and flinging them open, before he landed in the floor in a large crater.

Slightly bruised and greatly shaken, Choji lifted himself up, staring in awe at the Suna genin, "How did you-" He began, but his train of thought was blocked out as a tendril of sand wrapped itself around the Akimichi's ankle and pulled him, causing Choji's words to be replaced with a cry. The sand pulled Choji, slamming him against a wall like a rag doll, and then violently slammed him against the floor.

The attack was so sudden and so harsh, that nearly everyone was speechless.

The one was wasn't, of course, was the attacker.

"Of course." Gaara said. And the sand around Choji suddenly stiffened and began to creep up, enveloping the boy like quicksand. Gaara's eyes flickered up to where he knew Naruto was. "He's an opponent." He said. "Yes. It is."

Those near enough to hear his speak backed up, frightened as they appeared to be hearing only one half of a conversation.

* * *

Naruto, seeing the violence, breathed hard in terror. _Is he going to kill Choji? _She wondered. Then, hearing like only someone like her could, Naruto heard Gaara respond, "Of course."

Instead of debating the strange thing which just happened, Naruto instead asked, _Why?_

"He's an opponent."

_That's… bloodthirsty and cruel._

"Yes. It is."

_Don't kill him._

* * *

Gaara hesitated, confused, at her words. And then, he simply let his sand, currently wrapping itself around Choji, fall down limp. He blinked a few times, surveying his handiwork, and stared up at the stronger jinchuuriki in the stands.

He realized crippling wasn't killing, so his allowed his sand to harden where it was.

Choji screamed.

* * *

Asuma raced down to the floor level and the medical team jumped in, as well as one of the Jonin from Suna, who Asuma could only assume was the other boy's sensei. "Restrain him!" Asuma hissed at the man.

Baki blinked for a moment, and then grabbed Asuma's arm, stopping the Jonin from reaching his student. The Sand Jonin looked directly at Gaara, "The match is over, you have won."

Gaara nodded, "Take him." He mumbled, and then left the bloody scene, walking back up the stairs to sit down on a bench directly across from the other jinchuuriki.

The medics immediately surrounded Choji, lifting the boy onto a stretcher, while Asuma watched, all while wondering, _What jonin takes orders from his own student?_

* * *

Unlike practically everybody present, the Proctor was completely unshaken by what had occurred. He merely coughed into his pink handkerchief and announced the next two contestants.

"Yamanaka, Ino." The Proctor announced, and the pale-eyed girl who typically responded to that string of syllables jumped to her feet in excitement and anticipation. "And Uzumaki, Naruto." The girl to whom that entirely unique name belonged perked up at her name and then her jaw dropped when she realized who she'd be fighting.

* * *

Asuma nodded as Kakashi shushined directly next to his side. One of the men was reading a disgusting novel and the other poisoning his lungs; Kurenai, who _had_ been sitting next top Asuma, decided that two doses of men-stupidity was more than enough for her, so she walked away.

"Too bad," Kakashi nodded, "Appears like all three of your students are going to be led out of this room unconscious and on a stretcher."

Asuma chuckled, "Are you kidding? Naruto-chan against Ino-chan? Ino-chan may be annoying, but she knows how to fight. And Naruto-chan doesn't have any experience combating an attack to the mind." He pointed out, tapping his forehead.

"Of course she does, she has more experience with that than any one I know." Kakashi reminded his friend. "This is _Naruto Uzumaki_, the impossible girl. She's a _you-know-what_ that's actually slightly normal."

"Oh, right." Asuma nodded, "But still, I doubt the demon constantly attacks her head-"

"It does by just being there."

"Yeah, but meaning too? Look, Ino-chan's been taking private lessons from her father ever since she joined this team, trying to impress the Uchiha boy, and I know her well enough to know that she's going to start with a full-on mental attack whenever she can." Asuma said.

Kakashi shrugged, "Naruto's pretty fast. She'll get the first blow."

"Ino will get the second, and it'll be all over from there."

"You really think your genin can beat a jinchuuriki with head games."

Well," Asuma shrugged, "This is Naruto-chan, like you said, she's impossible. She's the strongest vessel but I wouldn't hesitate to pit my students against her, training match or otherwise."

Kakashi grimaced, "Maybe, but she has the capability to be as bloodthirsty as the other jinchuuriki."

"_Other_ jinchuuriki!" Asuma's eyes widened, "_What_?"

Kakashi nodded seriously. "That boy, Gaara, we've known from the beginning he was a jinchuuriki, his village does practically nothing to stop it, but there's nothing we can do."

"It's _illegal_ for a jinchuuriki to be in the Chunin Exams, we can get him thrown out."

"_We_ have a jinchuuriki in the Chunin Exams, if we do that we have to disqualify Naruto-chan, which would reveal to all of the other villages who our jinchuuriki was." Kakashi sighed, "Besides, it's not illegal to enter a jinchuuriki in the Exams, it's just illegal for them to use their demons."

"Boys." Kurenai reminded them, "Your students are about to fight."

* * *

Naruto gulped nervously as she stared at her opponent, while Ino just smirked.

Both girls had, at one point in time or another, desired sincerely for the opportunity to beat the other to a pulp, but for Naruto she would have much preferred fighting a girl who had not defeated her countless times in the Academy. In fact, the only thing Naruto could ever recall excelling Ino at was eating, but a young girl beating an Akimichi in an eating contest wasn't exactly a marketable skill. Of course, it was the young girl who won the eating contest, not the one who consistently got the second best female marks in class and beat all the others during scrimmages, who won the boy; which might have something to do with _why _Ino looked like she was ready to kill Naruto.

This was a terrible time for Naruto to remember the flyer in the Daycare center which announced the new nurse-intern day was today, and she had to wonder if Saru was okay, if they'd remembered not to give him sugar, if, god-forbid, they thought Socky-chan was something to throw out, or if one of them would remember that Saru took any meat he ate extremely rare, and when was the last time she shaved him, did he miss his mommy, was there-

"Uzumaki Naruto, are you ready?"

"Yes." Naruto attempted to say confidently.

"Then begin." The Proctor announced after yet another coughing fit. Naruto noticed that despite the number of coughing fits which the Proctor had had, his handkerchief seemed relatively dry. _He's faking it!_ Naruto realized, before she remembered she was in a match and she ducked to the ground just in time to avoid a kunai aimed at her head.

"Come on! Let's make this a good match!" Ino smiled, "I'm going to beat you and get to the next round for my teammates!"

Naruto just stuck out her tongue.

Getting up to her feet, Naruto ran to her opponent, very obviously attempting to punch her with her left hand. Ino dodged the attack easily, mentally commenting on the stupidity of the other blonde girl, when Naruto's right knee collided with her stomach. Before Naruto could land another hit, Ino jumped out of range, and, panting, glared at the other girl.

Naruto charged toward the other, even as Ino backed up as fast as she could. Naruto, sadly, forgot a very crucial piece of information every Konoha ninja knew regarding the mind-clan, 'Never attack a Yamanaka in a straight line'.

"Mind-Transfer Jutsu!" Ino yelled, and her jutsu hit straight on.

* * *

"See, Naruto-chan was easily hit." Asuma commented.

"Not so easily won." Kakashi corrected, "How's Choji?"

Asuma darkened. "He's in intensive care, they think he just broke his limbs and a rib, but they can't be sure. I came back to watch my last student, and then I'm going to have to go to the hospital."

"All three students in the hospital, I thought you said you'd make a great teacher, Asuma-kun?" Kakashi grinned.

"Shut up, cyclops, like you've even taught them anything."

* * *

Gaara smirked as he heard the name of the jutsu. _The taller blonde girl must be an idiot for attacking a jinchuuriki in its own element._

* * *

Sakura cringed as she heard the name of the jutsu. _Naruto must be an even bigger idiot than I thought for falling so easily for that jutsu!_

* * *

Ino opened her eyes to find herself floating in a dark amount of space, completely alone, and she didn't find it weird at all. Putting her hands to her face, she called out, "Naruto! Oh, Naruto-chan! Where are you?"

_"Naruto-chan_._"_ Something whispered.

"Pudgy-chan! Get here!" When nothing happened, Ino frowned. In order to take over someone's mind she needed to 'find the central intelligence and cripple it', but the 'central intelligence' had to show itself for that to happen. "Dammit!" Ino yelled, "Come on! Where are you?"

_"Mommy?" _Something whispered.

"Weirdo." Ino commented.

_"_Saru._"_ Naruto said.

Ino turned around, smiling gratefully to see the figure behind her, clad, of course, in her trademark hideous orange jacket. "Aha! You're here, let's-" Ino ran forward to punch Naruto's stomach, but as she did so the other girls body disappeared like smoke. "Okay, Pudgy-chan, let's get this over with."

Then came a chuckle, dark and terrible, and Ino suddenly felt her heart pounding in fear. Suddenly, in front of her, the girl saw a strange sight, three doorways appearing from nowhere, two of them shining and the last old and burned. Eyes widening, Ino reached toward the brightest door…

* * *

The moment where both challengers were standing still, one collapsed, lasted, to those outside, for less than two minutes, but for those who knew the fundamentals of the Yamanaka mind-technique, were impressed to realize that the battle, for the challengers, lasted just over an hour.

At the end, both the challengers stirred, Naruto stepping backward in confusion and blinking widely and Ino by blearily lifting her head and then dropping it to the ground, unconscious. The Proctor just shrugged. "The winner is Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto shuddered visibly and stared around the room. A strange buzzing started to appear, and she blinked rapidly as everything around her began to shake, blurring out of sight. She could hear a few voices, but they grew higher in pitch until they reached a point where she could barely hear anything. "Is she okay?" Someone near her asked.

And then her vision narrowed and she fainted.

* * *

Sasuke jumped to his feet as soon as he saw Naruto fall. Immediately he turned to leave, but he appeared to think of something and he turned back to look at Sakura.

The pink-haired girl smiled sadly at him, "Why don't you go?" She offered, "I'll stay to watch the rest of the matches."

Sasuke nodded, and left.

Kakashi stood up. "Take notes," He told his young student, "Your teammates will need it later."

Sakura looked all around herself. "Notes?" She asked. "With _what_?"

Her cyclops-teacher smiled, "Your head, you're smart, aren't you?"

"I don't have a photographic memory!" Sakura yelled just as her teacher disappeared into thin air.

Sasuke, making his way to Naruto's side, frowned as he saw the other student who was there in addition to the small medical staff. "Gaara." The Uchiha said, spitting the name out like a curse.

Gaara stared at him, unnerving the other boy, while he searched his memory for the other's name. Deciding he didn't remember, Gaara settled for the one insult that tended to frighten his opponents the most. "Human." Gaara growled.

To his credit, Sasuke didn't back down. " 'Human'?" The Uchiha asked, "Is that meant to be an insult?"

Gaara nodded. "By 'human' I am insinuating that I am not so."

"And what are you if you're not human?"

The jinchuuriki grinned wickedly, "I am the same as the other here."

Sasuke glared, "Go away, what gives you the right to-" The Uchiha felt a hand on his shoulder that he immediately recognized as his sensei's, which cut off his current sentence.

"Sasuke," Kakashi chided, "This is a guest to Konoha, be polite."

Gaara waited a moment, as if he was expecting another retort, but when it was not forthcoming he turned around, disappearing and reappearing instantly by his siblings in the balcony.

While Sasuke had been distracted, a medical team had already placed both of the blonde girls onto stretchers and were leading them out of the room. The two followed, Sasuke leading Kakashi, whose hand was still clenching the boy's shoulder painfully. "Is Naruto-chan alright, sensei?" Sasuke asked once they were out of the arena and in a long, white hallway.

"It's hard to tell," Kakashi replied, "With a mind-jutsu the two girls could have practically killed each other in the mind, and it would take them a long time to recover from the shock, even though they both only seemed to faint."

Sasuke wanted to ask another question, but decided it would be repetitive, so he didn't.

"Sasuke, we're not going to the hospital right now."

"_What_?" Sasuke growled, "But I-"

Kakashi spun his student around so the two were facing each other. "Your neck."

"What about it?" Sasuke asked, "You put the seal on it."

"I put the seal on your neck, yes, but that does not stop you from activating it on your own… like you're doing right now."

Sasuke's gaze widened and he touched the place on his neck where the seal was supposed to be and then immediately yanked his hand away at the burning flesh. "What the…" He muttered.

"How are you feeling right now?" Kakashi asked.

"Shocked." Sasuke mumbled.

The cyclops squeezed harder on Sasuke's shoulder, but the Uchiha didn't flinch, "Angry?" Kakashi asked.

"Worried." Sasuke answered.

"Frightened."

"For Naruto, yes."

Kakashi stared at the teenager, "Not angry at all? Even when the Suna-nin was talking to you?"

"Well… _then_ I was angry, yes," Sasuke sighed, "What does this have to do with anything?"

Kakashi stared into space for a long moment, and then seemed to nod. "Nothing, the seal is receding right now, go see Naruto-chan." _And I'll be seeing Anko._

"_Thank_ you."

* * *

Saru frowned as he sat at his table, his untouched snack in front of him. Today was a terrible day. There was far too much 'new'. New nurses, new kid, new people, and not enough 'Mommy' or even 'Iru-san'.

And the new kid made him crazy. All of the other kids were fawning over him, talking to him, asking him to speak to them… or shake his hands, even though the new kid smelled terrible. And all of the parents who came in had to talk to the new kid, they had to pet him and say 'Hi' to him, and no one ever did that for Saru. Absolutely not.

Saru growled, scaring the little girl sitting beside him. Saru stood up, holding Socky-chan in his hands, leaving the table to walk toward the new kid. The little girl Saru scared stole his snack.

"Hewo." Saru said angrily.

The new kid did not respond, he just smiled at everyone around him. Most of the kids who'd been playing with the new kid all day left to eat snack. Saru'd been happy to see that the new kid didn't get a snack… until he got one from home that was better than the crackers Saru'd been given.

"He_wo_." Saru repeated.

In a fit of horrible rudeness that Saru knew _his_ mother would never have allowed, the new kid barked into Saru's face.

Angry, Saru barked back.

The new kid whined.

"Hewo, I'm Sawu, I don' like yoo." Saru informed him. The new kid had a very limited vocabulary; he merely shook his tail and barked the same bark again. So, Saru barked back.

Suddenly, there was a huge shadow over the two of them, and the new kid happily jumped up and started to idiotically chase his tail, while Saru stared up at the nurse looking over them angrily.

The nurse grinned, "Why are you barking at the doggie, you cute little boy?"

"'cause he wouldn' talk two me." Saru responded, as if that was obvious.

"You're soooo cute." The nurse replied. Saru just blinked at her. "What's your name?" The nurse asked, "Iiiii'm Mayiko!"

"Sawu."

The nurse blinked. "As in 'Monkey'?"

"No!" Saru said crossly, "I'm a turtle! Can' yoo tew? I 'ave a tail!"

"Aha… of course you do, sweetheart." The nurse grinned.

"Excuse me." A man said, coming up behind them, "I'm looking for 'Uzumaki Saru', he needs to be taken to the hospital, his mother was injured."

* * *

Sasuke, sitting outside of a hospital room, could barely hold in his temper as he waited until the 'stupid' hospital policy would allow him to enter the room to see Naruto. He waited, completely impatiently, for a long amount of time, staring at the clock which did not help time pass any faster for him in accordance with the theory of relativity which worked ill in his favor, causing him to feel like he'd waited an hour after only five minutes, and then three hours after ten. After exactly eleven minutes and twenty-three seconds, the waiting room Sasuke was in was admitted another two members, excluding the man snoring under a strange weight-loss magazine in a seat across from him.

A little boy clutching a sock and a ninja who appeared to wish he was anywhere but where he currently was located entered the room, sitting three seats away from Sasuke. The ninja handed the little boy a book and a tiger from a basket of toys and then sat down.

Sufficiently entertained, Sasuke watched the little boy use the ninja a surface, slowly wearing out the older mans patience.

Eventually, the ninja stood up, away from the hyperactive little boy's reach, and walked into the center of the room, leaving the little boy, unfazed, making 'rawr, rawr' noises as he pretended the tiger was eating his picture book.

The ninja, seeing Sasuke wearing a Konoha headband, turned to him, "You're a genin, right?" The ninja asked.

"For now." Sasuke replied curtly.

"Look, I have somewhere to go, and I'm a Jonin who does not need to be babysitting this little kid right now, just… whenever they let you in, his mother's in room 313, can you just drop him by her bed for me? Thanks." And the ninja, in a shower of leaves, shunshined away from the room, leaving the completely inexperienced, gaping young teenager with the toddler.

"What?" Sasuke growled.

The Uchiha looked at the little kid, and then startlingly realized the boy was gone. The ninja was about to jump to his feet, when, right in front of him, he saw a tiger figurine dancing on the sleeping man's weight-loss magazine.

"Kids." Sasuke growled. He stood up, walked over to the 'rawr'ing toddler, picked him up, and walked back to his seat, setting the toddler on his lap. The little boy was completely unfazed, he merely changed his game to having the tiger figurine 'rawr'ing on Sasuke's face. "I'm Sasuke." Sasuke informed the boy, "Who are you?"

"I'm Sawu."


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi, I am once again back. Person details void at this period in time (I'm not dead, I'm never going to be a dancer… but I'm okay, I guess. I'm going to do my best to finish this fiction and then I will be moving onto bigger and shinier things. As long as I quit being obsessed with Artemis Fowl.). La, de, da, de, do!**

**[p.s. I fixed the frogs/toads thing! Sorry 'bout that!]  
**

* * *

"Saru?" Sasuke asked, "That's a strange name." In response, the toddler had his tiger figurine eat Sasuke's nose. "Children." Sasuke growled.

"I'm a turtle." Replied the toddler.

"Why's your mom in the hospital?" Sasuke asked.

Saru shrugged. "She can' get hurt."

"Why?"

"She's my mommy!" The toddler said seriously, "Mommies don' get hurt. Stupid." And then he, again, made the tiger eat Sasuke's nose.

Sasuke frowned, "I wish. Now can you stop that?"

"Tiger-chan's eating you." Saru giggled.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He scooted his chair over, to be farther away from the toddler, "Look, why don't you just go in to see your mother?" He growled.

"I dunno. Why? Can I? Is my mommy okay?" Saru stared at Sasuke, "Did you hurt my mommy, meanie?"

"Meanie?" Sasuke blinked, "Why am I mean?"

Saru giggled, "I dunno."

The Uchiha sighed, looking around the hospital room. "What's your mother's name? Why's she in that room with… a friend of mine?"

"Uzu-_ma_-ki." Saru pronounced painstakingly.

Sasuke stared at the little boy, "Yeah, actually. That's her name, slightly creepy little turtle child, what's your mother's name?"

Saru grinned. "I'm a turtle!" Then he realized Sasuke was staring at him very seriously and he frowned, "My mommy's Mom-_my_."

"But what's her _name_?"

Saru glared at Sasuke, turning his head away, be begun to play with his tiger figurine on the side of the chair. "My mommy's name is Mommy, stupid-head."

"How old are you?" Sasuke asked.

"Two."

Sasuke said, "Don't you think you're old enough to know your mother's name?"

"I said! Mommy Uzu-_ma_-ki. I am Sawu Uzu-_ma-_ki." The little boy replied.

"Wha… _what_?"

Saru rolled his eyes and pursed his lips in typical toddler fashion, "You-"

A doctor, breaking the concentrations of both the young males, entered the room by exiting another, like so many people do. "This room is now taking visitors." He announced.

* * *

Naruto had the worst headache she ever had. It was as if her head had been repeatedly hit with a mallet, shoved through a shredder, and then reassembled on the other side by someone who had certainly never received a degree in brain surgery… or at least something equivalent to that. A doctor she could not see well shoved a light in her face and asked her stupid questions, like 'how many fingers am I holding up' or 'is there any lingering pain', to which Naruto responded angrily, saying she didn't care how many stupid fingers he was holding in his hand, why was he holding fingers in his hand anyway, and of course there was pain. A nurse forced her to swallow a pill which reduced the pain, and the doctor asked the same questions again, to which Naruto responded the exact same thing. "She's fine," the doctor concluded. "There are two visitors waiting, would you like to let them in?"

_Iruka and Saru! _Naruto smiled, "Yes, of course." She, frankly, could not wait to see Saru again.

"Alright," the doctor nodded, "Just remember, no strenuous activity for the next few hours, after that you're free to do whatever you like. Please stay in the hospital for at least an hour, after which we will be sending a member of our staff to check up on you and release you."

Naruto nodded, "Thank you."

The doctor left the room after signing something off on a paper and informing her of the emergency call button located on the table by her bed that she could use to get any sort of assistance she required, but which would be disabled if she used it for non-medical related purposes. Naruto silently cursed, since she'd been wholly prepared to use the button to send a nurse for ramen.

After the door shut it opened almost immediately as a white-haired toddler rushed into it with a loud clatter as he dropped some plastic toy he'd been holding in his hand. He didn't make a sound, not screaming 'Mommy!' like other kids his age would likely have done, he merely ran to Naruto and jumped up on the bed, hugging her and cuddling her side while making light purring noises. Naruto smiled and hugged him back eagerly, before looking upward.

She was quite prepared to thank Iruka for bringing her child to her at such short notice when the words caught in her throat as she realized that the fourth-last person in the world she ever wanted to know about her son was standing there. "Sasuke…" She whispered.

"Naruto-chan," Sasuke said, his voice startling cold, "It's nice to see you're well." And then he left the room.

* * *

Naruto could not believe it, Sasuke knew, and for all she knew, Ino, when she was in her head, might have figured out too. It wasn't like she had any idea how to block anyone from entering her mind, or if she had exceptional brain power, like so many other people she knew… like, practically everybody else she knew.

Although, Naruto realized, being the container to an extremely powerful demon-spirit she probably should work on her intelligence at least a little bit.

Saru, unaware of the sudden turmoil in the room, rolled onto the floor, grabbed his tiger toy, and began to play with it on his mother's bed. "Are you a turtle, Mommy?" He asked.

Naruto, looking at him, very convincingly faked a happy smile, "No, sweetie," she told him.

Saru blinked, "Then how did I get to be a turtle?"

"Magic," Naruto informed him as if it was a matter of fact, and the little toddler, of course, believed her. Toddlers have a tendency of believing anything that their mothers or fathers tell them, a habit which sometimes doesn't wear out until even well into the adult stage of life. "Come on," Naruto said, picking up the toddler and allowing him to keep the new toy he had obtained, knowing if she took it away he would start to cry and she was definitely not in the mood to deal with a crying toddler at the moment.

"Where?" Saru asked.

"Home," Naruto said, keeping the plastered smile on her face.

* * *

Kabuto was certainly enjoying his stay in the Leaf Village. When he was younger he'd spent the margin of his life in and out of the village, learning, merely because he was bored, all of the nooks and crannies that no one in the village knew of except the sly dealers, the occasional ANBU, and any orphan with spare time. He hadn't exactly been an orphan, although he had, but unlike the ones the village supported with their replacement orphanage system he had an adult to take care of him… and force him to learn medical jutsu which he didn't appreciate until well after he'd killed the man.

His uncanny knowledge of Konohagakure's secret allies, enlarged sewage pipes, garbage routes, and the safety house located in the mountain bearing the resemblance of the four Hokages, Kabuto was invaluable on the mission. His skills and clever mind, which had already earned him the well-sought place as Orochimaru's right hand, allowed him the ability to simply walk through Konoha, mapping out the routes for the coming invasion in plain sight with the small disguise of a stupid fisherman hat.

He was appalled that it was so easy to get in, having remembered Konoha security to be far better than it was, but then again, he remembered Konoha as it had been after the huge turmoil with the wars, having taken in paranoid refugees like himself, and _before_ they were relying on the superstitions of the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki in their midst. That was the reason that a huge number of ANBU, on out-of-village missions, wore fox-based animal masks, to spook the members of other villages.

_If_, Kabuto squinted, _Konoha can still be called a 'village'_. Konoha had practically become a commercial center. It was far too easy for any enemy ninja to locate them. Kabuto whistled as he chanced upon an incredibly tall building bearing a neon sign, _They are begging for an invasion._

Suddenly, as Kabuto was making a mark on his map of Konoha, a giant 'X' over the space where the building was, a young ninja rushed passed him. Kabuto turned, adjusting his glasses as he looked at the figure's retreating form.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Kabuto smirked.

* * *

Naruto, as she sat at home, calming herself by making two bowls of instant ramen even though she knew it wasn't exactly the healthiest option to feed Saru with, wondered aloud whether or not she would ever be normal. After all, she'd desired it since the beginning of her life, when a demon was sealed into her, and then later, when she realized she wanted parents, and then again even later when she realized she was going to have to be a parent without having any knowledge at all how to raise a normal child, much less one infused with demonic chakra when he was born. Normalcy was a curse Naruto fervently wished she would be plagued with and never recover from.

As Saru bounced on the couch, Naruto boiled the water and wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead. "No," She said loudly and suddenly, "I'm not going to think about him. He's going to come to me either way to talk eventually so there's no need for brooding over the answer." _Answer?_ Naruto wondered, _Answer to what? Whether or not he still likes me if he knows I have a son? It's not like I asked him that._ Naruto sighed, wishing she had a pile of dishes she could wash to calm her nerves.

"Saru-ouji, what time is it?" Naruto asked.

Saru stared at the clock on the wall. "Fat hand eight, skinny six." He replied in cryptic toddler-speak.

"Okay, you're going to eat this and go straight to bed." Naruto told him.

Saru nodded, far too occupied with introducing his new tiger figuring to his samurai.

* * *

Sasuke hadn't a clue where to go or what to do, all he knew was that his head was spinning and he didn't want to go home where the old ghosts peering at him from every corner were likely to aggravate his momentary dementia. He didn't have any money on him, and he wasn't exactly hungry, so he couldn't sit down in a 24/7 restaurant until he fell asleep, like he sometimes did when he was feeling uneasy, and he couldn't just sit in a park because eventually people would recognize him and try to talk to him like they were his best friends, even though he had no idea who they were. He could go to the graveyard, which sometimes calmed his nerves, but whenever he was upset he always ended up in the Uchiha section, and staring at hundreds of relatives' graves did not help any person calm down, which was why he found himself at this particular door, in this particular apartment building, trying not to feel completely out of place.

Sucking in his pride, Sasuke knocked on the door. He stood around waiting for a moment, and then knocked again, this time harder. He spent another long moment, waiting for someone in the apartment to answer the door, before he decided he wasn't going to try again and turned to leave just as the very person he was coming to see walked down the hallway carrying a bag of groceries.

"Yo," greeted Kakashi.

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke said.

Kakashi handed Sasuke his bag of groceries and then reached into his kunai holder for his keys, which he then used to open the door. Once the door was open, Kakashi walked in, making Sasuke carry the groceries. "Set them on the counter," Kakashi ordered. Sasuke did so, and then sat on a chair Kakashi offered him. The cyclops then sat, backwards, on another chair, facing Sasuke. "So, why have you come to see me?" The sensei asked.

"Naruto has a child." Sasuke said bluntly.

"Naruto_-chan_." Kakashi corrected grudgingly. "And yes, she does. His name is Saru Uzumaki, he is named after the Hokage, and he is one of the sweetest little boys I have ever met."

"He's 'Saru-ouji'?" Sasuke asked.

His sensei nodded, "Yes, that's what Naruto-chan likes to call him. 'Monkey prince', which is rather amusing considering Saru-kun's favorite game is pretending he is a turtle for a reason I have been unable to fathom."

Sasuke nervously leaned back, his forehead wrinkling as he tried to understand. "She kept him a secret, from everyone."

"Mizuki threatened her."

"Its…" Sasuke cleared his throat, "It's _his_ kid then."

"No, excluding conception, Mizuki has had nothing to do with the child. Saru is entirely Naruto-chan's."

"Why… why keep it a secret? Why didn't she ask tell us later, Mizuki was gone then, wasn't he?"

Kakashi sighed, "Naruto-chan was mercilessly teased when she was pregnant, and some children still call her 'Pudgy-chan', a very cruel nickname especially for a girl in her situation. She has never been allowed to be normal; perhaps she wanted to make a few friends before she told them her greatest secret. I don't know, I am her teacher but I do not know everything that goes on in her head."

"Why didn't she get rid of him if she didn't want him?" Sasuke asked.

"It is not an easy decision for a mother, in any situation, to give up a child. Naruto-chan loves Saru-kun deeply, she does want him. She wants to raise him properly and be the best mother she can be, even with very little experience. I admire her greatly for that." Kakashi told him. The cyclops put a hand on the Uchiha's shoulder, "Sasuke-kun," he said, "Naruto-chan likes you very much, even if this situation has jarred whatever romantic ties you've had, you are still young, and Naruto-chan would make a wonderful friend."

"Friend? But I-"

"Sasuke-kun, you're still to young to make a decision like that anyway, I'm sure you like her and I'm sure she likes you, but we do not live in happy times. We are ninja in a powerful village and we are all touched by tragedy, some more than others. So-"

"Wait, sensei, I-"

"Sasuke!" Kakashi growled, "Listen to what I have to say!" Sasuke, humbled, stopped protesting. "You have experienced an incredibly tragedy, meaning the death of your family at your brothers hand, even if you have feelings for Naruto-chan, she is going to do what is best for Saru-kun, and that is _not_ to pursue a relationship with you right now. You cannot push that, because Naruto-chan will bend to try to allow for you, but it will not be the right decision. While you are still obsessed with killing your brother it is idiotic to think of making a family, especially at the tender age of thirteen. You may be considered an adult now, but you are still young.

"If your feelings for Naruto-chan do not go away, then later, after you are older and have matured either past the obsession of killing your brother or have killed your brother then you might _possibly_be able to pursue a relationship with her, but you will have to take into consideration Saru-kun. Young love has a tendency to want everything, give everything, and expect everything, but Naruto-chan cannot love you like you would expect her to because all-the-while she will be thinking about what is best for Saru-kun. If you do _not_ have any more feelings for Naruto-chan then maybe it was just a crush or maybe there was something more, only time would tell, but either way you should not abandon your teammate and your friend.

"Do you understand?"

Sasuke nodded, standing up. "Yes, sensei, thank you."

"And, Sasuke?"

"Yes?"

Kakashi eye-smiled, "Your first match is up against Gaara of Sand, so to keep you from dying against him I'm going to train you until a month has past. So you should talk to Naruto-chan tomorrow morning and tell her you're going to be leaving."

"An entire month?" Sasuke blinked.

"Yes, and I think separation from this city might be good for you anyway." Kakashi said.

"What about Naruto-chan and Sakura-chan?"

"I've arranged for other ninja's to teach them."

* * *

It was early morning, Naruto was exhausted, having had very little sleep the night before, and she awoke to a ceaseless tapping on her door which had woken up Saru, who woke up in a pleasant, cheery mood until he realized that it was early and decided to be upset about that. That was the only reason why, when she saw a letter that had been slipped under the door which said 'Naruto' in Sasuke's handwriting, she put it on the counter and opened to door before reading it.

A man, dressed in all black, wearing strange sunglasses, peered down at her, "Naruto Uzumaki?" He asked. Naruto stared at him for a long moment as Saru squealed behind her, and then shut the door in his face.

She yawned heavily, reached into a cabinet and pulled out a bagel, preparing to put it in the oven for Saru, when the tapping at the door began again. This time she opened the door again and glared at the strange man at her door, noting his Konoha headband, "_What_?" She growled.

"My name is Ebisu, you will refer to me as Ebisu-sensei during the-" Naruto shut the door on his face again. Outside the apartment, Ebisu mentally counted up the favors Kakashi was going to owe him. He was about to knock on the door again when Naruto opened it up. "Hello, allow me to explain," Ebisu said, "Kakashi-san is going to be away training Sasuke-san until training begins, and he has arranged me to be a private tutor for you and Sakura-chan shall be interning at the hospital." Ebisu frowned, "Speaking of which, you aren't supposed to leave the hospital until you have a nurse or a doctor dismiss you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow incredulously, staring at him, "You're my tutor?"

"Yes," Ebisu said calmly.

"My _tutor_?"

"Yes," Ebisu repeated, he had heard that she was rather slow but he didn't think that slow.

"Why do I need a tutor?" Naruto asked.

Ebisu almost smiled, lecturing was his third favorite thing to do, "You need a tutor because your first match will be against Neji Hyuuga, the Hyuuga Prodigy, and you are unprepared to defeat him."

"Unprepared?" Naruto rolled her eyes. "I don't think so."

And she shut the door in his face again.

After much more tapping, Ebisu finally convinced Naruto to allow him to train her for the day, and the two walked to the 24/7 Daycare together in complete silence until Saru was dropped off, albeit a few hours before Naruto normally took him there.

After dropping him off, Naruto turned to inspect her apparent 'tutor' once again. "So…" She said. After an awkward pause, she asked shamelessly, "Are you anybody important?"

Ebisu blinked at that, but he was wearing sunglasses so Naruto didn't see his momentary confusion. "I am the personal tutor to the Honorable Grandson and several other very important people," He informed her.

Naruto smirked, "I've meet Konohamaru-kun, and he isn't that impressive of a ninja."

"Well, he is still very young, Naruto-chan."

"_Uzumaki_-chan." Naruto corrected.

Ebisu shrugged, "Very well, Uzumaki-chan. I would like to inform you that I am a Jonin teacher, unlike the Chunin teachers who educated you in the Academy, and I am normally someone who costs quite a lot of money to hire, but because Kakashi-kun asked me I am willing to do it free for you, although you are not of the same status as those I typically teach."

"Duh," Naruto rolled her eyes, "I'm a hundred times more important."

Ebisu snorted, "You? What makes _you,_ a teenaged ninja with a son, more important than the heirs of the Hinode Corporation or the Pingtung Clan?"

Naruto smirked, "I'm a jinchuuriki, you smelly idiot brain." Naruto thought of an idea, and grinned broadly, "Okay, catch me and I'll let you train me for today!" And she was off, running as fast as she could.

"But we already agreed…" Ebisu sighed, "Women…"

* * *

Two hours later, lightly bruised, both Naruto and Ebisu painfully sat down on a stool in the park, Naruto having been caught only five minutes ago because she'd used countless clones to throw the Jonin off her trail.

"Fine," Naruto grumbled, wrapping herself in her orange jacket, "You can teach me."

"I don't need your permission, impudent little girl." Ebisu growled, his manners mostly gone after the long chase.

"Do you want me to run aga-"

"No!"

Naruto smirked, "So now, teach me, stupid-face."

Ebisu rolled his eyes, "You have terrible insults."

"My mouth used to be a lot fouler," Naruto confessed, "But then I realized that little children repeat what they here."

"Well, now, can you sit through a lecture of mine?" Ebisu asked, and when Naruto gave no protest he continued, "I have noticed that you use far too much chakra for your jutsu's. You use almost triple what anyone else would use to make a shadow clone, but it's hard for you to notice because you have more chakra than anyone I've ever seen."

"Really?" Naruto asked, "Cool."

"_Not_ cool." Ebisu corrected, "You could make far more use of your chakra, but you waste it because you have hardly any chakra control."

Naruto frowned, "Fine. So what do you want me to do?"

"Well," Ebisu began, "This will be the very first thing we have to do. See, in the Academy it's the absolute fundamental part of a ninja, chakra control, battles have been lost because one side didn't have as good chakra control as the other, even if one was stronger than the last."

_Kami… _Naruto thought, _He is really annoying…_

"Now you seem to have completely neglected your training with this, so before we can work on some other things I was hoping to teach you we will have to start at the basics and then move up, and because we only have a month before you have to fight Neji Hyuuga, and…"

_Blah blah blah chakra blah blah Neji Hyuuga blah…_

"…Therefore we will have to meet about an hour earlier than we did today and stay until about ten hours p.m.. If you're concentrating all day we can take a small break in the middle of the day."

"What about Saru-ouji?" Naruto asked.

Ebisu waved her question off, saying nonchalantly, "Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine, you can keep him at the daycare for a few days anyway, so, about the chakra, there are hundreds of exercises…"

As Ebisu rattled off, he was completely oblivious to Naruto's horrified expression that only deepened with every sentence he said. One thing was clear to Naruto, she could not allow this creepy, weird, stupid person to be here tutor, no matter what Kakashi told her to do.

* * *

Completing his rant, Ebisu turned to Naruto, "So," he asked, "Are you ready to start?"

"Yep!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"Very well," Ebisu said, he stood up, and gestured for her to follow, and the clone did so.

* * *

Naruto was not a good thinker, and now that she had just remembered the letter that Sasuke had left for her, she had even more on her mind than finding a way to escape her creepy tutor-man who she couldn't outrun, even though she'd tried, and who apparently knew where she lived. She wondered if she could just go up to him and tell him that she didn't want him to train her, but considering he chased her around Konoha for two hours, he probably wouldn't fall for that. The only thing she could think of was getting a better tutor and telling the other guy that he was fired.

_But how,_ Naruto wondered, _am I supposed to find a teacher? It's not like people will be lining up to teach the penniless orphan… Unless… I just pretend I have a teacher… _She squinted her eyes as she thought, _What do you suppose Sasuke… FOCUS! I have to get rid of this Ebisu guy… I could pay him off… or pay someone to kill him…I could… I could… I could ask someone smarter than myself. _Deciding the last plan was her best yet, Naruto snuck away, from the park in deep concentration.

She would have immediately gone to Sasuke or Kakashi, but both were gone now. Kakashi would have had good advice that she would have, for the most part, ignored, and Sasuke would likely just solve the entire problem for her, so now Sakura maybe…

Naruto opened her eyes wide.

The curiosity… was just too much.

She HAD to read Sasuke's letter or she was going to explode.

* * *

Panting heavily, Naruto jammed her key into her apartment, opening, entering the apartment, and locking the door behind her in record time. She grabbed the letter, hands shaking from the suspense, and didn't bother sitting down to read it.

_'Dear Naruto,'_ the letter began.

_'I'm sorry for the way I acted at the hospital. It was stupid… and I suppose I was just shocked. I went to Kakashi-sensei, and he basically explained it all. I must congratulate you; Saru-kun is a very nice little boy. _

_ 'I'm not exactly sure how to handle this. I don't have much experience with relationships and you probably have even less. We're young, Naruto. We're teenagers, yes, and we're always trying to tell each other that we're older, stronger, and wiser, but we're just not. _I'm_ just not. I don't know what to do in a situation like this except… pray to Kami, I suppose, though that's not very much in my idiom._

_ 'I still like you very much, and I want to be with you, but maybe Kakashi-sensei is right, maybe we should wait to get to know each other better. Or at least until we five years older. _

_ 'I'm not sure how that will work, but I have to warn you, I still like you quite a lot Naruto, so I may continue to… flirt with you. My apologies, but do you have any idea how beautiful you are? It's incredible. _

_ 'So, Kakashi-sensei will be taking me away for a month, he has to train me so I don't die as I go up against Gaara of Sand. You still owe me an explanation for that, and I'm prepared to wait only as long as it takes you to tell me. I don't know where I'll be going, or if I'll even be leaving for very long… or basically anything, which is very much our sensei to withhold this kind of information. _

_ 'See you in a month, if I can I'll write sooner,_

_ 'Sasuke Uchiha'_

Naruto closed her eyes, thinking about the letter for a long time and reading it over twice. Then she smiled. _Somehow,_ she realized, _things worked out. _

And then the world exploded.

In a brief moment, Naruto saw a flash of something moving, but before she could see anything around her, her vision was clouded by a sudden flash of red and an excruciating pain on her forehead. Someone grabbed her hair and used it to throw her to the ground, and she yelled loudly before a huge fist covered her mouth, stopping her from screaming.

"Stupid girl." A harsh voice growled, hot breath blowing on her face and Naruto was unable to breathe or even cough.

She felt her body being lifted off of the ground by her head, and she grabbed the hand that was suffocating her, trying to pull it off to absolutely no avail. Her head was slammed against another surface, and this time Naruto struggled to regain consciousness as her vision began to slip away.

"The boss says to wait, but I don't see why I can't kill you now."

With all of the air she had left Naruto tried to scream, but she was getting weaker and weaker, she couldn't summon up any chakra and she was certain her clone had dispelled already.

_No, no, no, no, no! _Naruto cried out inside her head, as her lungs began to pound against her chest in desperation. _LET ME GO!_

"Let her go!" Someone yelled.

The giant hand suffocating her disappeared suddenly and Naruto gasped for breath, so dizzy and frightened that she could not even open her eyes, her lungs screaming in protest as she sucked in far too much air than she needed.

Someone screamed, Naruto couldn't tell who, she opened her eyes to see and was plagued by white spots in her vision. A small, cold hand touched her wrist and appeared to be checking her heart rate, and Naruto blinked rapidly to see better, seeing only a few blurry green shapes in front of her.

There were several more sounds of struggle, but Naruto concentrated more on the two figures in front of her. She blinked rapidly as her breath and her vision came back to her and the two large figures grew even more into focus.

"Frogs?" Naruto whispered, horrified.

"Ah," said the first toad, "she's okay."

"Good," said the second toad, "I was very worried for a moment there. The Boss would not have liked it if she died." Naruto stared at the background, ignoring the toads for now, as she saw an old man with long white hair standing over the body of a giant man with a horribly malformed face.

"Aha!" Said the old man. "Don't worry, young lady, I have saved you!"

Naruto almost slipped into unconsciousness right then, since she was so confused with what had just occurred. "I… I…" She mumbled.

"I'm glad you are alright," said the old man. "Toads, thank you for your assistance!" The toads 'poofed' out of existence, one insulting the old man as he did so. "Young lady!" The old man said, reaching a hand down to Naruto which she accepted, bringing her to her feet. "You must have many enemies to have someone this dangerous after you. Especially one this horribly ugly."

Naruto stared at the figure on the floor and her eyes widened considerably. "He wasn't… I did that to him."

The old man stared at the dead body and then back at Naruto, "Well," he said, "You must be a pretty impressive ninja then, are you in the next round of the Chunin Exams?"

Naruto nodded, stepping back from the dead body. "Yeah," she said, "I am. Who are you?"

The old man frowned, "You don't know?" He asked, when Naruto shook her head he sighed and announced, "I am one of the Legendary Sannin and a renowned author, the Toad Summoner, the Great, Amazing, Handsome, and Powerful, known by the name of Jiraya the Handsome and Great but you can call me Jiraya, your hero!"

Naruto blinked at this introduction. And then snorted, deciding she didn't like the snobbish old man. "I could have taken care of it." She lied.

Jiraya rolled his eyes, "Sure. Anyway, miss, I need your help, I'm looking for a young man and I can't seem to find any record of him, I was wondering if you might know him."

Naruto shrugged, "Who are you looking for, although I should tell you that my social circles are not very large."

"I'm looking for a young man, a genin like yourself, whose name would be Naruto, and I'm not sure what the last name would be." Jiraya said.

"Naruto?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Yes," Jiraya said, "Have you met him?"

"Naruto…" Naruto repeated. "I don't know, is it a common name?"

Jiraya's eye twitched. " 'Fishcake'? Are you kidding? It's one-of-a-kind, there is only one Naruto."

"Then I probably know the one you're looking for." Naruto said.

"Can you take me to him?" Jiraya asked.

Naruto shook her head, "Absolutely not, he's training for the exams."

"Oh," Jiraya said, "He's in the exams as well."

Naruto nodded. "How badly do you want to find this 'Naruto' person?"

Jiraya glared at her. "Very badly," he said grudgingly. "You're acting very ungrateful for a girl whose life I just saved."

"I was never in any danger." Naruto lied. "So, back to the topic, I have an offer to make."

"What kind of offer?" Jiraya asked.

"I have a teacher that I can't work with." Naruto told him, "I have other responsibilities that my teacher doesn't understand and frankly he annoys the heck out of me."

Jiraya groaned, sensing where this was going. "Can't you just work it out with him? I'm too busy to take on a student, I'm only here to fulfill an old promise and there's nothing to do with training little annoying orange girls in that promise."

Naruto glared at him, "No! I can't 'work it out' with this person, he's stubborn, rude, and obnoxious."

"Like you?"

"Shut up, old man!" Naruto growled. "I don't need much training, I'm fine the way I am, so I just need someone to tell my other teacher that he's training me and maybe to go over a few chakra control exercises with me, can you handle that?"

"I _could_ always ask somebody else where he is."

Naruto smirked, "You won't find any boy in Konoha with the name of Naruto, I bet you."

Jiraya glared at her, "Fine, I'll run a few exercises with you in exchange for my information, now can you just tell me where Naruto is already so I can get out of here, the dead body's starting to bleed into the carpet."

Naruto smiled, "Okay! I'll tell you tomorrow after we train! Meet you in Training Ground Seven at 10:30 a.m.! Bye!"

Jiraya glared at her.


	18. Chapter 18

**On the plus side… or wait… the negative side… school has started.**

**Okay peoples….**

**Um, heregoes, I am a good student and I want to keep it that way, so I'll do my best to update, but you may have noticed that these have been getting much farther apart, and just with the way things are going right now, and I AM writing another, nonfanfiction, novel, I have to budget my time, and this is not my highest priority right now. (In case you wonder, my highest priority is whether or not I'll be able to run ever again.) So, be grateful for whenever I get to you. Sorry, but we all DO have lives beyond this, don't we? And life interferes, I love all of my fans, so I apologize for this. On the plus side, my novel is going to be amazing, and I hope you all will read it.**

**Anyway, what time is it? Story Time! (enter exciting music I don't care to write here!)**

* * *

Nobody liked being the bearer of bad news during an invasion. It was a very horrible job. You can ask anyone who has participated in an invasion and they will certainly tell you that the worst thing to do is be a bearer of bad news. That was why Kabuto had to do it, because Kabuto was Orochimaru's favorite and vital to the mission, therefore rather unlikely to be killed in any number of nasty ways by Konoha's famous Sannin.

"Orochimaru-san," Kabuto said as Orochimaru was preparing himself for a bath. "I believe it is of vital importance to inform you that Jirobo entered hostile territory last night without permission, attempted to kill one of the targets, the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki, and was killed by your former teammate, Jiraya the Toad Sage."

Even being a favorite and irreplaceable did not completely escape the bearer of bad news from total punishment.

* * *

The sun was just reaching the point of noon, brilliant rays of life accenting the village, where it was practically always summer. It was a remarkable day, warm with a cool breeze, and everyone was outside enjoying the day. Meanwhile, an old man blackmailed into teaching a headstrong young girl was turning purple as he waited for the girl to arrive.

Finally, nearly two hours late, she showed up at the training field, her hair mostly in disarray and a curious stain on her orange jacket, but looking certainly pleased to be there. "Hello, stupid old man, I'm here to be trained!"

Jiraya sighed, "Who's your sensei, Kakashi-kun?"

Naruto grinned, rubbing the back of her neck nervously, "Sorta, yeah."

Jiraya stared thoughtfully at her, "So you're on Naruto-kun's team?" Naruto nodded, "Well then," Jiraya said, "I may regret asking, but why are you late?"

Naruto shrugged. "I had to wash my cow," she said in pretend seriousness, "It was horrible, he was about to contaminate the whole flock of geese when the rabid pineapple showed up to eat the brains of all sunflowers. Naturally, my initial reaction was to wash the cow so the aliens could abduct and run experiments on him. And yes, him, I have a male cow."

Jiraya just stared at her for a long moment before saying, "People don't get bored around you, do they?"

Naruto shrugged, "Can we just start?"

Jiraya smirked, "If you're up to it. There is this little basic exercise that nearly all ninjas learn at some point in time, you'll have to work on it, I'm sure you'll master it soon, and when you do I'll teach you another, very powerful, jutsu. And once I tell you it you'll tell me where Naruto-kun is?"

"Nope!" Naruto smiled.

Jiraya smirked again, _I have no doubt you'll tell me in return for a hint once you start on this jutsu. _"Very well, anyway, this basic jutsu is called the Rasengan."

* * *

Sakura was having a terrible time. She had not expected being a nurse to be so easy and disgusting. The Chunin she was assigned to, Gina Mayiko, was an exceptionally good nurse and she didn't trust Sakura to do anything but watch, clean sheets, clean bathroom, and basically just clean anything that didn't have to be absolutely sterile.

As she cleaned the public restroom and prayed that no one she knew would come in the door, Sakura would have bet anything that her teammates were having a much better time than she was, especially since they were still in the running for the Chunin exams.

* * *

Sasuke was having a terrible time. He was drenched in sweat, so low in chakra that he was shaking, and he was currently trying desperately to maintain his grip and his consciousness as he stood, upside down, on a tree branch. He could not recall ever being trained this intensely, except by himself when he was in a particularly sour mood, and even then he'd at least allowed himself something to eat or drink as he worked.

Kakashi, lounging on a rock as he read his book, said, "You've only been there for six hours, Sasuke-kun, you'll need better chakra control before you start on the jutsu I'm going to teach you."

"Hn," Sasuke said, glaring at his teacher.

* * *

Naruto was having a terrible time, she'd stared at her hand for hours now but she was having almost no luck summoning up any chakra, and whenever she did, it was either so thin that she started and it disappeared or she was frustrated, and it was purple and burned her hand. "Is there any advice you have for me?" She asked Jiraya.

The old man, who was leaning back on a tree stump, writing in a notebook, glanced up at her lazily, "I could give you a hint if you tell me where Naruto-kun is."

"Why do you want to see Naruto-_kun_ so badly, do you even know a thing about _him_?" Naruto asked testily, appearing to smile at Jiraya but she was actually growling and showing him her canines.

Jiraya snorted, "Careful, kitty, don't bite me." Then he shrugged, "I need to see Naruto-kun, just to check up on him, I've only seen him a few times, actually, never really talked to him."

"Apparently," Naruto grumbled under her breath. "Look, give me the hint and I'll tell you… who's training him for the Exams."

The old man grinned, closing his notebook, "_Now_ we're getting somewhere. Alright, my hint is, put a drop of ink on your hand and then concentrate on that, so your eyes don't wander." He grinned, "Now, who is training him for the Exams?"

"I'm not sure, I asked and Naruto-_kun_ just said he was old and ugly." Naruto said, hiding a smirk by turning away.

"Old and ugly, huh?" Jiraya thought, "That doesn't narrow it down very far…"

"More than you'd think." Naruto grumbled. She grabbed Jiraya's writing utensil, and, despite his cry of protest, dropped some ink on her hand before stopping to concentrate again.

* * *

"Maybe you should take a break," Jiraya said, returning from his forty-five minute long 'bathroom break' with two bento boxes. Naruto glared at him, but she was just so tired that she nodded, sitting down where she was and graciously accepting the lunch Jiraya offered her. The Toad Sage sat down and took a few bites of his lunch while studying the young girl, "Where are your parents?" He asked.

"I'm an orphan," Naruto said, discovering that the food was delicious and, surprisingly, _not _the cheapest on the market, which was her typical pallet.

"I'm sorry," Jiraya said, "Do you miss them?"

"Never knew 'em," Naruto said nonchalantly.

"But you do live with someone, don't you? I could tell you weren't the only person living in your house." Jiraya pressed.

Naruto stared at him for a long moment, but then she shrugged, "That's my son, Saru, you can meet him later if you like."

Jiraya did a double take, his jaw dropping as he stared at the small blonde girl, "You have a son? How old are you?"

"Thirteen," Naruto replied, "Saru's two, almost three."

Jiraya frowned, "Who was the father?"

Naruto stopped chewing, a dark cloud seemingly coming over the clearing at that exact moment, "Saru-ouji doesn't _have _a father, got that?" She asked viciously.

"Right," Jiraya gulped.

Naruto nodded, "Good." She then took another bite, chewing for a considerably long time. "So, old man, besides summoning frogs-"

"_Toads_." Jiraya corrected.

"Whatever, _toads_ what do you do?"

Jiraya smiled, "I write novels. I'm sure you've seen them, they're very famous in almost every village." He reached into his bag, pulling out a book with an orange cover, "See, this is called-"

"You write _those_!" Naruto glared at him, "You can _forget_ abut seeing Saru-ouji, you crazy little weirdo old man freak person-"

"You're not very good at insults, are you?"

"Monster loser disgusting old freak!" Naruto growled, "I can't _believe_ you write those, I'm almost tempted to take my old sensei back."

Jiraya frowned, "Almost?" He asked miserably.

Naruto glared at him, "I might hate you more, but I don't like the Ebisu-guy enough to take him back. It's like that saying, 'better the devil you know', right?"

"Wait," Jiraya frowned, "You knew the other guy before me-"

"Hey! I can make my chakra swirl around my hand and stuff, so what's next?"

Jiraya jumped, "You can do that already?"

Naruto nodded, "I know, it's taking me awhile, but I have really bad chakra control."

The Toad Sage just stared at her.

* * *

Saru was very wiggly whenever he saw something that excited him. He was rather like a dog, incredibly hyper and excited at every little thing that he saw. Trying to hold his hand and a bag of groceries after her second extremely unproductive training session, Naruto felt like she was going to be split in two every time that Saru possibly saw a squirrel, or a sign, or a person, or a building, or a blade of grass, or practically anything that randomly seemed to catch his attention. The only thing Saru apparently _didn't_ want to chase and see was anything that smelled foul, especially women with perfume, he screwed up his nose and hissed and then whenever he smelled them.

Somehow surviving the walk home, Naruto had to let go of Saru when she unlocked the door, which meant that he tried to run off to see the package at her neighbor's door that looked perfectly normal and was thereby under suspicion, so she had to set down the groceries, run after him and bring him back into her house, slamming the door once he came in. Oblivious to her bad mood, Saru immediately ran to see something else that interested him, even though he spent a great deal of time in his home so Naruto had no idea what it could possibly be. She set down the groceries with a sigh, wiping the sweat off her face, and enjoying a few moments of relaxation before the doorbell rang.

Naruto sighed, glanced at Saru who was halfway in the bedroom door, apparently dragging something very heavy, and walked over to open the door. Seeing who it was, Naruto was almost struck dumb.

"Um… Can we talk?" Ino Yamanaka asked, wringing her hands nervously.

Naruto squinted at her suspiciously. "What about?"

A loud crash could be heard from the bedroom, and Saru immediately ran away from the source of the noise, grabbing Naruto's leg with a loud cry of "Mommy, it's the mirror's fault!" Naruto sighed, recognizing the tinkle of shattered glass.

"About your son." Ino said, gesturing to Saru.

"Would you like to come in?" Naruto asked, peeling Saru off of her leg and telling him to go sit on the couch with a picture book. Saru nodded, seeming to understand, and then he jumped on the couch and buried himself in pillows. Naruto showed Ino to the table and they sat down, opposite each other, "So, what is it?"

Ino bit her lip, "I saw in your head, about him, you know, and I… I'm really sorry. I'm sorry about everything. It was really mean to tease you anyway, and with everything going on it must have been so hard, so I'm sorry about everything. I wasn't… I wasn't being a good person, I practically tormented you, but I never realized…" She dropped her head, staring at her feet, "I'm sorry," Ino mumbled.

"I forgive you." Naruto said.

Ino, surprisingly, glared at her, "You forgive me? Like that? Are you kidding me? How on earth can it be that easy for you?"

Naruto shrugged, frowning a bit, "It just is. And it wasn't that horrible, because I had Saru-ouji, and that just made it all better."

"He's a cute kid." Ino said sadly, glancing over at Saru who hadn't moved.

Naruto giggled, "Yeah, and he's crazy too. It's my revenge for being the horrible hyperactive monster to Iruka-sensei."

Ino laughed too, and then seemed guilty about that. "Um… Naruto-chan?" She asked.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked, vaguely concerned that Saru didn't appear to be breathing.

"I'm sorry about the whole 'Pudgy-chan' thing, I'm really, really sorry."

Naruto smiled, "It's okay, I told you I forgive you, that includes the 'Pudgy-chan' thing."

Ino sat awkwardly for a moment, playing with her thumbs, while Naruto stared carefully at the pile of pillows Saru was buried in, gratefully noting the gentle rise and fall of the pillows. She briefly wondered why he'd even done that, and how he was managing to keep so still, but Ino soon regained Naruto's attention. "I was wondering…" Ino said, "If we could be friends."

Naruto blinked, "Really?" She asked.

Ino blushed, "I mean, if you don't, I totally understand-"

"No,no." Naruto interrupted, "I love friends. I would love to be friends."

"Oh," Ino nodded, "Good then… so…. Tomorrow my team is going to the barbeque, you can come if you like, I think Choji's bringing a cousin of his but that's it." Suddenly, she grinned, "we made a bet with Asuma-sensei that we couldn't learn the Ino-Shika-Cho combination in three hours and we won, so now he has to buy our dinner, and with the way Choji and all of his family eats you know it's going to be crazy." Ino blushed, "And I thought it would be kind of funny, 'cause you do eat a lot too, but I'm not asking you because of that, but because you're my friend… now… I guess…"

"You know," Naruto reminded her, "I only ate that horrible concoction because I was pregnant."

Ino blushed, "Pickles and refried beans. Miko and I made that."

"Were you actually trying?" Naruto asked.

Ino looked at her shoes, "Yes, so I don't think I'll make a good housewife."

"Well, we are ninja." Naruto reminded her, "_I'm _a terrible cook; half the things I make say 'just add water' in bright letters on the cover."

Ino laughed. "Well, I can't argue with that." She smiled shyly, "So, we're friends?"

"I said we were." Naruto smiled, "and if you are my friend, I have to go rescue Saru-ouji from a suffocating self-imprisonment in a pile of pillows, care to join?"

* * *

Ino Yamanaka had, despite being trained for it her entire life, been completely unprepared to enter a foreign mind. It was the opinion of the Yamanaka's that no one was ever prepared to enter someone's mind and divulge themselves with information without having done it previously and failed. It was much easier to take over the body of someone you were facing, who was stressed or frightened, because their guard was up, and everything but what the Yamanaka needed to know was locked away. On an unprepared person, a Yamanka would have to suffer through an incredible amount of powerful memories, tending to be the person's happiest or their most painful, and then they'd have to sort through an entire lifetime to find what they needed. Only the most powerful of the mind-travelers were able to do such a thing, the others being overwhelmed, forced to see a set of memories and almost forced to live through someone's entire life, but a mind-traveler had an 'overload' setting, when something because too difficult they would be able to exit the foreign mind and jump back into their own, though not without some damage.

When Ino Yamanaka entered Naruto Uzumaki's mind, she did not expect her to be calm. Some people, in a battle situation, can calm themselves down, concentrate solely on what they need to do, and then after the battle are tense and guarded, the opposite of the typical person. It is these sort of people who are the most deadly in battle, because they can fight with a clarity of thought and with the desperate fervor of a bezerker. Sometimes, a ninja will experience this in a battle situation when they feel that they are about to die, and yet they are still fighting. The strange phenomena had no official name, but among most warriors was referred to as the Calm of Death, a fearful name for something so simple. Naruto Uzumaki, although she did not know it, was one of those people, and Ino Yamanka, who had never entered someone's mind when they were unguarded before, even in an unstressful situation, now had to deal with that.

So desperately, her mind blocked out almost everything she saw, but out of ignorance she opened up her mind to see all she could see, and came upon three doors.

She did not know what most mind-travelers knew, that symbols tended to replace words in the mind, because people rarely think in letters, but in pictures. Ino Yamanaka did not think to ponder those three doors, for one was old and rotten, another was a simple door frame, and the last shone like gold, she thought she was in a hurry, even though time had no relevance where she was, and she opened the gold door first and was plagued with Naruto's happy memories.

* * *

The next day, when Naruto met Jiraya actually almost on time for the lesson, Jiraya was without notepad, waiting with a very serious expression on his face. "What is it?" Naruto asked him.

"I would like you to continue what you were doing. Concentrate on molding the chakra in your hand like a sphere, do your best to keep your focus." He advised her.

Naruto grinned, "You're actually going to pay attention to me this time?" Jiraya just glared at her and Naruto sheepishly blushed and started to do what he'd told her. "So, is this right?" She asked, but Jiraya just ignored her, not saying anything. For a while, she just concentrated, summoning up swirling chakra in her palm as best as she could, even though it was extremely difficult. Whenever her chakra shuddered, she let it go, somehow knowing that it meant her normal, blue chakra was being mixed with the demonic, red chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

"What is your name?" Jiraya asked.

Naruto's concentration and focus faltered, "Huh?" She asked.

"I never asked, did I?" Jiraya noted, "What is your name?"

Naruto was silent for a long time, mentally weighing the pro's and con's of what she was about to do, before she shrugged, sighed, and replied, "Well, old man, I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

Jiraya nodded, "I thought so."

"You did?" Naruto said in surprise, "How?"

Jiraya grinned. In reality, he was horribly shocked even though he'd suspected it, but he knew enough to keep a passive face and fake his way through it. "I'm a Sannin, we just know things," he said and was rewarded by the hidden, but obvious awed look on Naruto's face. "So, you're the one I was looking for, are you? I guess I shouldn't have just guessed you were a boy."

Naruto smiled brilliantly, "Come on, I could never be a boy. 'Naruto' is totally… well, I mean… I've never met anyone with the name, so I just guessed it's a girls' name but it really means 'fishcake' so I suppose any parent in a strange mood could name their kid that… but I think my name was just written down by some orphanage worker with a hangover… 'Naruto' is practically the stupidest name ever…"

For some reason, Jiraya looked downright furious, "It's not that terrible of a name." He said.

Naruto shrugged, "I _did_ name Saru-ouji… well, Saru, so maybe my parents did name me. Horrible names could be hereditary, anyway…" She smiled at him, "So, why have you been looking for me?"

Jiraya frowned, his brow furrowing in concentration, ans he was silent for a while as he chose his words. "Do you know… about…"

"Jinchuuriki?" Naruto ventured. Grateful, Jiraya nodded. Naruto smiled, "Yep, in addition to ramen and digestive juices there's a demon in my stomach."

"Ramen?"

"Yes, ramen, digestive juices, a demon, and still a bit of that baby fat, I guess."

A thought appeared to come to him, and Jiraya almost gasped in revelation, "Saru, your son, is he… normal? Were there any after affects of the birth? I've heard of Jinchuuriki having children before, but many were stillborn, and it was typically the males who were the jinchuuriki."

Naruto wondered for a moment whether she should hide Saru's peculiarities from her teacher, but then she remembered that he was a Sannin, and a very powerful ninja, so she decided to ignore her initial instincts and confessed, "Saru-ouji is very different. He grows a lot of hair that I have to shave, his ears are pointed, he's got a bit of a tail and a wicked bite, and I think lots of the time he doesn't understand speech or what's going on. Normal children his age can talk fine, but he still slurs his words like a baby."

_This is not good. _Jiraya thought. "Has he seemed extra-violent? Especially toward animals or other children his age?"

"Um… well, he thinks he's a turtle so sometimes he-"

"A turtle!" Jiraya gasped, "Does he suffer from these delusions constantly or-"

"No!" Naruto interrupted him, "He asked me why I have a tail and I panicked and told him it was 'cause he was like an animal and then he asked 'which one' and I wasn't going to tell him it was a fox so I just randomly came up with turtle!"

Jiraya shrugged. "You do realize that you're almost entirely random."

Naruto blushed. "It's the hyperness, I'm trying to stop."

"Stop being hyper?"

"He has a tail!" Naruto announced suddenly.

Jiraya leaned back, blinking rapidly in his confusion. "What?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm getting back to the whole 'is he normal' conversation. I hate talking about myself."

Jiraya grinned, "So, a tail?"

* * *

Baki, a Jonin of the Sand Village, was standing, observing his three students, two of which were sitting on a bench in front of him, trying to be attentive, and the third was standing up, and it was impossible to tell how much of his attention Baki was receiving. "I'm sure the three of you completed your reports of the layout of the village," Baki said, merely for something to say, as he wanted to broach a subject which he was very afraid of getting killed for.

Temari no Sabaku and Kankuro no Sabaku, who were both sitting on a bench, stopped fiddling with their clothing/puppet and suddenly paid rapt attention, one of them even fearing that Baki had gone insane, like their three other previous sensei's. "You already have our reports," Temari reminded him, "We gave them to you yesterday."

Baki nodded, swallowed nervously, and glanced at his youngest student.

Gaara no Sabaku was standing, looking away from the group, his forehead wrinkled as he puzzled over something.

"G… Gaara?" Baki asked, hating himself and his chosen profession for having to actually attempt to get a jinchuuriki's attention. As expected, Gaara's tiel eyes, void of emotion, turned to connect gazes with Baki with as much of a reaction from the other three people present that it was the equivalent of a dead man standing up and inquiring to the health someone's brain. Hearts beat widely faster, because Gaara had been in a distant and terrible mood for a few days, as he wrote his report, which was three paragraphs long and one half of a sentence, that cut out in the middle, like he'd begun and hadn't bothered to finish.

"What?" Gaara asked, when Baki didn't reply.

Swallowing up his fear, like he'd trained himself to do after three years of teaching a jinchuuriki that didn't want to be taught, Baki said, "I would like to know what has been occupying your thoughts."

Gaara stared incredulously, but replied in monotone, "She has a son, a child. I researched… she didn't want it, so why does she have it?"

Temari, Kankuro, and Baki were completely in the dark, and they wanted to ask more, but Gaara turned his face away, and no one wanted to interrupt him as the sand around him shuddered in irritation.

Gaara, for one of the few times in his life, broke the silence, "Temari." He stated.

"Yes, Gaara?" His older sister asked.

"Is it terrible to be forced to have intercourse?" He asked.

Kankuro almost choked, but Temari kept her head and replied, "Yes, it is."

"Why would someone of great power suffer through that?" Gaara then asked. Baki opened his mouth to answer, but Gaara glared at him and said, "I'm talking to Temari, I would like her reply."

Thinking for a long time, Temari answered, "Because someone else had greater power."

"Is it painful to bear a child?" Gaara asked.

Temari wrinkled his forehead, "I suppose so. But lots of time a woman wants to, because they want to make a family." She said quietly, hoping that this wasn't a conversation about their mother.

Gaara frowned, which caused the reactions of Baki gathering chakra to shunshin, Kankuro's hand tightening on his puppet, Crow, and Temari grabbing her fan, preparing to shield herself. "Is it possible to kill a child in the womb?" Gaara asked.

"Yes," Temari answered, not wishing to go into detail.

Gaara's sand flared up, reflecting his mood, and the tendrils of it waved about, almost seeming like they didn't know where to go, or what to do, thoroughly confused. "Then why," Gaara asked, "Would the jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox bear a child she did not want?"

Temari didn't answer, not knowing what to say. They already knew that the Nine-Tails' jinchuuriki was in Konohagakure, and they knew her identity, being a small, blonde girl in an orange jacket, strangely enough, but they hadn't expected that information.

"Temari." Gaara said softly and angrily.

Frightened, Temari answered, "I guess… maybe she wanted it. I… my friend… Saba, she's married, and she's pregnant, and I guess women just… love their children."

Gaara wanted to increase his inquiry, asking what 'love' was, but then he remembered what he'd always been told. "Love is no basis for keeping a child," Gaara replied, "It is hardly a bond at all, I suppose a child of a jinchuuriki would have special abilities, that would be the only reason she would allow it to live."

For some reason, Kankuro and Temari felt incredibly guilty when they heard their little brother speak.

* * *

Life very quickly fell into routine. When someone is constantly busy, they can easily ignore a future event, such as a battle where they may likely be severely wounded as they are pitted against others as powerful as themselves in a gladiatorial environment, and single-mindedly concentrate only on more pressing matters, like perfecting a jutsu, or a kick, or how to prank their new sensei to get him to stop writing in his horrible notebook and pay attention to his only student and possibly tell her the reason he was looking for her in the first place.

Almost all of the future competitors were guilty of that level of mental procrastination. The ones who weren't could easily be categorized by any shrink anywhere, as a homicidal maniac. So, the ones who were slightly more normal did there best to completely ignore whatever they were supposed to do, concentrating on small things at a time, until it came to the point where they almost forgot what they meant to do in the first place.

And then came the day of the Chunin Exams.


	19. Chapter 19

**Don't worry! I WILL finish this! I'm Irish, okay, I'll die if I don't, it's one of those stubborn things that comes with red hair. This will NOT be abandoned. That said, it is going to take a long time. My other story is… well, my other story that I'm actually going to make money for. Eventually. When I get the time. School is hard, I wish I could graduate already, live in an apartment, write all day and get a pet snake or cat. **

**I have very strange life aspirations, my apologies. **

**Note, I previously always included 'chan' and 'kun', but it has started to really annoy me. They're going to be less regular from now on. But I'm glad I got this in when I could, I'm doing NaNoWriMo, but I took a break for this, for you guys. You give the most eloquent and inspiring reviews.**

'**To the person who I said the next installation would be December, thank you! I felt so bad writing that I had to write more! ****'**

* * *

Saru ran the toothbrush carelessly over his teeth and threw the stick in the sink. "Done!" He called out, rushing to the bathroom door.

"Oh, no you don't." Naruto growled, grabbing the three-year-old's collar, causing him to stop instantly. "Come back here and brush your teeth right, or I'll do it." Grudgingly, Saru came back, but when he did he looked pleadingly at his mother with round blue eyes and an adorable pout and said, "I don't wanna…"

"Unable to resist him, but knowing she should, Naruto sighed and sat up on the sink counter, picking Saru up so that he was on her lap. She looked straight into Saru's eyes and said, "Do you know why we brush our teeth?" Saru shook his head and leaned in closer to catch every word his mother said. "If you don't brust your teeth, bugs will grow in them." Naruto informed him.

Saru gasped in terror, "Bugs?" He repeated.

Naruto nodded sadly. "They will grow in your mouth… and _eat your tongue_!" Saru shivered with horror. "Then, when they're finished eating your tongue, in search of new food, they will eat your face!"

Saru wrinkled his nose and squinted in confusion, "Reweay?" He asked.

Naruto leaned in closer so that their noses were touching, and she whispered, "Where do you think Kakashi's face went?"

All disbelief vanished and Saru gasped again, "Window man!" He recognized, remembering all the times Kakashi had appeared with some sort of trinket or food to bestow upon them only to be chased out by his mother.

"And that's why you need to brush your teeth." Naruto told him. "If you don't you'll lose your face."

"I brush 'em now!" Sari said, jumping off of his mother's lap and grabbing the toothbrush. Satisfied, Naruto kissed his cheek, grateful for his presence to distract her from tomorrow's challenges.

* * *

The sun streamed threw her window, waking her up, even though she protested that with all her might. Naruto, sitting up, glared at the curtain-less window, and wondered why she hadn't closed it when she knew the light would come in and wake her up at an unseemly amount of time, when she heard strangled noises and cheers, looked to her left and saw her uniform, pressed and ready, her weapons gleaming on her dresser, and she realized that it was the day.

Today was the Chunin Exams.

With a start, Naruto jumped up, rushing to get ready. With half a heart she ran under the shower, but her hair was barely wet before she jumped out again, throwing her uniform on without drying off. Quickly, she made a clone, and then remembered that she wasn't supposed to waste her chakra, but she let the clone-Naruto braid her hair as she ran to wake up Saru.

"Honey, Saru-ouji," Naruto called out, a bit louder than she normally did and devoid of a sing-song voice, "Time to get up."

Saru buried himself in his blanket, which Naruto was forced to wriggle out of him painstakingly, as he moaned and, for a brief moment, cried, under her attempts. "Come on," Naruto said, forcing herself to be sweeter, "Mommy's got somewhere to go, so she needs you to go to Daycare and when she gets back she'll make you ramen noodles and ice cream."

Blearily, almost as if he were upset he was so easily persuaded, Saru sat up and held out his arms for her to pick him up with. After a brief combing of his hair where the majority of the already short time was spent dealing with a rather obvious cowlick, Naruto forced him into clothes, handed him his 'Socky-chan' and new samurai toy, then rushed out of the door, knowing that the Daycare workers weren't going to be happy when they realized they would have to feed him.

She dropped Saru off, her mind somewhere else, with a hug and a kiss. He pouted a bit, but she ruffled his hair as he left, not wanting to be distracted, repeating her promise of ramen noodles and ice cream.

Hands crossed, feet shaking, she left the Daycare, immediately starting to walk to the large building that had haunted her for the entire month, though it had previously been a sign of a dream. The thought of failure was one Naruto had to continually push back from her mind, so when someone she wasn't sure she knew she welcomed the intrusion even though normally it would bother her incredibly. The person was a woman, with fluffed up hair, pleasant wrinkles, and a happy smile on her face, with a hand on Naruto's shoulder, she'd stopped her, and now, with a pleasant smile, whispered, "Good luck, sweetie."

Naruto froze, in absolute shock, and could only manage a small nod. As she was standing, another person, this one was a male ninja, and he merely grumbled, "Good luck."

As Naruto drew to the door of the stadium, yet another person, this one shouting, "Good luck, Naruto-san!", wished her luck, and she was overwhelmed by that time, and so she ran to the door in the site of the foyer to the stadium, the door that bore the legend '_Authorized Personnel Only_'.

In a moment, almost before she had time to look at the bleak grey interior of the stadium that apparently no one bothered fixing, since the visiting dignitaries weren't going to see it, she was greeted by a person she hadn't seen in a month.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted, smiling brightly, "I missed you."

Kakashi nodded, eye-smiling, tilting his head ever slowly, "I heard you found your own teacher, a Sannin nonetheless. Congratulations. I'm rooting for you and Sasuke."

Naruto grinned. "If Sasuke and I end up fighting each other in the finals, who would you root for?"  
"You," Kakashi said seriously, "Sasuke needs to be brought down a peg."

"_Sasuke_?" Naruto squinted in confusion.

"You only saw the best of him." He informed her. Kakashi frowned, "Now's not the time, now is the time for you to get ready. Like all of my students, you are late, therefore you don't have much time, go into the contestants box, drink a water, and just start breathing."

"But, but I _am _breathing."

Kakashi shooed her off, declaring that he was late, he had to wash a horse, to which Naruto responded that Kakashi didn't _own_ a horse, and Kakashi said that that was true, so he'd have to buy a horse first.

He gave her scarce directions which didn't make much sense, and then disappeared.

Naruto turned left following his directions, and found herself in a dark, dank metal hallway. "You'd think they'd find some yen to light this place," She frowned. Walking past a long pipe, she found a set of stained stairs, and so, nervously, she walked up them.

She opened a door and blinked at the sudden contrast. Naruto was confronted with brilliant light and polished floors, as she walked into a huge balcony, filled with people and even a table of water and sandwiches, which opened onto a giant field. "Naruto!" Two people yelled at the exact same time.

Ino got to her first, and surprisingly gave Naruto a huge hug, shouting nonsense about being excited and happy, and then Choji, limping slightly, but only having a few bandages and a large brace on his right leg, came up to her next and hugged her as well, shouting "Good luck!" into her ear, which left her ears ringing.

As Choji stepped back, Naruto saw that he wasn't exactly looking at her, his gaze was drawn to something else, and she followed his eyes to see a red-haired boy sitting in the shadows, glaring into space. Gaara, seeming to sense her gaze, looked up and the two locked eyes.

"Have you seen Sasuke?" Ino was asking, "I thought I saw Kakashi, but Sasuke isn't here."

Naruto shook her head quickly, and successfully tore her eyes away from Gaara's haunted tiel orbs when a large, bearded Konoha ninja Shunshin-ed onto the balcony and announced that even if they're ninjas, people who aren't contestants are not allowed in the waiting box.

"'Bye!" Ino said cheerfully, hugging Naruto again, and then three other people before leaving by a different door than the one Naruto had just stepped through. Choji said goodbye again, not hugging her, which Naruto appreciated because she wasn't used to the gesture and had already had more than her fill. Shikamaru, too, smiled at her and waved, which was apparently too much trouble for him because he them sighed very loudly as they turned to live.

The large, bearded Konoha ninja asked if the contestants needed anything else, but the only suggestion came from Choji who asked for chips, so he didn't bother bringing anything.

"Who's first?" Choji asked right as he was leaving.

"Naruto," Shikamaru said, sneaking a glance at the girl in question as even he left.

_First?_ Naruto wondered, and then remembers that she is. She'd been informed of that through a letter a few days after she'd run away from the hospital. Her gaze sweeped the room until it landed on another genin, who was leaning a pillar, looking out onto the field. The genin turned, his harsh face frowning and pupil-less eyes flashing.

_Oh right,_ Naruto remembered_, the Hyuuga genius._

* * *

A few people in all of Konoha were not at the Exams, and those who weren't were doing things they couldn't normally do with a crowd of people, like solitary bathing at the bath house or quietly walking through the park.

There was, in particular, one empty street. A commercial street, normally filled with vendors and open shops, it was particularly lonely. Soft wind gave the illusion of life to curtains and scattered advertisements for the Chunin Exams that had been thrown on the ground. Nothing moved, or even seemed to breathe, until the arrival of two figures who seemed to just appear out of thin air, and although one actually did, the other had merely been hiding.

One was clad in a conspicuous black, but he had long silver hair that draped over his eyes, so, in a ninja village, one would see the black and the flash of silver and not think twice about it. He was awkward, however, almost nervous in his manner, and his hands shook as they lowered a hood he was wearing so the other person could see him.

The other was a woman, she wore clothes that covered everything, but did little to hide her figure, and it was absolutely evident that she was beautiful. Long, ebony hair with hidden curls at the tips hung around her shoulders, and bright green eyes brilliantly contrasted a tanned face.

"Hello," the awkward black figure said, "You're looking particularly beautiful today, assassin."

The assassin's brilliant green eyes glared at him, "You fool," she growled, "An idiotic yes-man for Orochimaru who can't even avoid defeat at the hands of genin, aren't you, Sakon?" She frowned and the black figure shriveled under her gaze. "The only reason you're not jailed with the others and _on_ this mission is because Orochimaru needed someone to fill Jirobo's place, and he couldn't afford to hire another person like me. It's your teammate's fault for putting revenge on the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki over his mission."

Sakon was surprised, and he couldn't manage to keep that from showing up in his features. "Jirobo is dead?" Sakon asked, "How?"

She rolled her eyes with thinly-veiled contempt, "The Frog Sannin is back in town."

Sakon tilted his head and frowned in confusion, before realization came to him, and he said, "Don't you mean the _Toad_ Sannin, Jiraya, Orochimaru's old comrade?"

"_Old_ comrade," the woman smiled, "in more way then one. While Jiraya may be considered the strongest, there's no doubt he's growing older, our Lord Orochimaru and the Lady Tsunade have beaten him in that respect. You'd think one of such strength would be able to avoid wrinkles."

Sakon then grinned at her, his face splitting wide. "Really? I thought you just said Jiraya was watching over the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki, don't you have to be stronger than the one you guard? And if, no contest, the Toad Sannin is stronger than the Ninth Jinchuuriki, I'm fighting on the other side of the village during the coup."

The woman smiled, "_Actually,_" she grinned, "It's your job to distract the Sannin, with your genjutsu."

"_MY_ genjutsu!" Sakon gaped, "He'll see through it in a moment, and without my brother on my back I'm half my strength!"

The assassin shrugged, pity issues such as fear having lost their meaning for her long ago, "Just show him something he'll never doubt."

"Like _what_? What could possibly fool a Sannin?"

The woman rolled her eyes and, looking like it was painful for her to say something so vulgar, replied, "He writes _Icha Icha…_" She spat the name out like a curse. "Just show him a woman in a shower and make it steamy."

Before Sakon could filter himself, his brother tended to be more cautious with things like this and he was only half of himself without Ukon, Sakon asked, "Are you volunteering?"

The woman glares at him, "_Really_?" She hissed. "I will be busy _killing _the _Hokage_."

Sakon backed off.

"Good dog," The woman snorted, and began to walk away to inform the hidden ninja at the gate of their plan something she would have to verify was ready before returning to her position in the crowd at the Chunin Exams.

* * *

Naruto was nervous, her hands were shaking and she gripped the sides of her jacket to calm them down.

She was standing, in the middle of the stadium, and her eyes could barely register what she was seeing.

Over two thousand eyes looked down at her, all the attention Naruto thought she'd ever want but realized in this moment she should never have dreamed about. The sun was almost blinding if she stretched her sight to look in the Hokage box, and she couldn't make anything out over that, even though she was certain the Hokage and the Kazekage would be up there, so she didn't need to worry. Naruto couldn't make a single person she knew out of the crowd, as she was completely unused to dealing with that many people.

The earth she was on was overly perfect, artificially created to include earth, sand, a tree, some rocks, and a stream, just in case anyone knew elemental jutsu even though that was doubtful at their level. She hated the entire layout, the artificial plan of it was definitely throwing her off. It was strange, that even though she'd lived in a city her entire life she couldn't handle this pretend-nature.

Naruto looked at the boy in front of her, who, to add to the slight awkwardness, was staring straight back at her. For the life of her, she could not understand why she was nervous. Naruto charged into fights head-first, and yes, the public scrutiny was annoying, but it was not terrible. She knew for a fact she was having no attack of stage fright, and she was not afraid of her opponent, _Neji Hyuuga_. Still, although intellectually she found no reason for it, she could not shake the feeling that something was enormously wrong and she was frightened of whatever it was.

The coughing Jonin finished reading their rights, and then said, in a loud voice, "Begin!"

Neither genin moved.

* * *

Gaara watched the scene with an almost complete apathy. He certainly wasn't nervous, about anything, there was only something disturbing, that hurt his head, as he watched the blonde jinchuuriki stand, every muscle tense, ready to fight, all alone as she watched her opponent.

It wasn't for any particular reason, he was sure of it, that he was disturbed by that. It was just the fact of her alone-ness in particular that bothered him. Gaara couldn't exactly put a finger on it, because it wasn't tangible, it was just one of those ever present, highly annoying feelings that he sometimes got which he liked to analyze, find their source, and then destroy so he didn't have to worry about it again.

After all, he knew this as well as only almost eight other people did, a jinchuuriki's life was meant to be a lonely one, so it shouldn't disturb him at all.

Unless, of course, the feeling stemmed from a belief that he should be down there, with the other jinchuuriki, which was a completely useless feeling to have at a gladiatorial event such as the Chunin Exams. Gaara sniffed, again being forced to smell the disgusting, slowly molding Konoha cheese as he sought to identify the scent of the jinchuuriki.

Her scent was almost the same as his, uptight and nervous, but from a scent he could not tell why exactly that was. It likely could have everything to do with about to fight a supposed 'genius' with a crowd of people from your hometown watching you, but of course, she was a jinchuuriki so naturally she couldn't have any fear of actually loosing.

She took a step forward, toward her opponent, and Gaara leaned forward, his eyes fixed on what was happening. _What was her name again?_ Gaara wondered, and then remembered, _Ah yes, 'Naruto'._

* * *

Naruto stepped forward. She remembered, in her unconscious thought, something that Jiraya had told her about her opponent, and she squinted, desperately trying to remember it.

_The scene was slightly peaceful. Naruto was breathing hard, after a long practice, and it was one of those summer days everyone likes where it's hot and humid, but there's a constant, cool breeze which makes up for it. Jiraya was sitting down, almost perching on a rock in front of her, and she was sitting cross-legged in front of him trying not to fidget. Seriously, he told her, "Your opponent is Neji Hyuuga."'_

Neji snuck a jab at her, but instead of continuing her charge she backed away. Something in her told her to avoid Neji's glowing hands, only because it was a typical instinct of basically everyone to avoid glowing hands on a person who wants to hurt you. He tried to jab her again, this time in the stomach, but she sucked in her stomach and took a slight step to the side to throw him off, managing to get one punch to the side of his head before jumping away.

_The Hyuuga's are famous for close-range fighting, even outside the village. There's a counter to their move, but it requires chakra control and such enormous chakra ranges that only a few people outside of Hokage's can counter it. _

Neji looked up, eyes full of hate, as if he could barely believe she'd got that close to him.

Naruto jumped back yet again, balancing herself on a side of the tree for the slim moment the chakra would allow her to, and threw a number of kunai. Without even batting an eye, Neji Hyuuga blocked it, twirling around like it was nothing more than child's play. Naruto grimaced at the sight.

_Neji Hyuuga may not be in the pure line, but he is a genius, a prodigy. Which is a pity, because he's so much stronger than Hinata and her sister but he won't be clan head unless he marries one of them, and since their fathers were twins, that's illegal, even though they are only cousins. _

'_You can marry your cousin?' Naruto had asked. _

_Jiraya had shrugged, 'It used to be common place, and it still is in smaller villages. But mostly among the clans which don't tolerate outsiders. I think only the Hyuuga's, the late Uchiha's, and the Amaya's did that in Konoha, but the Amaya's aren't a ninja family.'_

'_What are they?'_

'_Artists.'_

Neji glided after her, running but somehow swimming threw the air, jabbing his fingers with the clarity and the grace of an artist who practiced pointillism. Naruto, backing up, trying not to think 'wax on, wax off' as she headed off his attacks, could not help but wonder if it was a mark of the inbreeding that those three clans were crazy. She'd met an Amaya before; he was bald with an excessive amount of nose hair and mumbled about oatmeal cookies and pink paint. And Hinata could never even speak, but was dating Kiba, the loudest kid in the class. And Sasuke was…

She couldn't really bring herself to think something negative about Sasuke, even while fighting for her life.

Except, well, her gaze swept the stadium, that Sasuke wasn't here.

Neji was standing still, in the center, glaring at her. "Going to fight, or just run away, little girl?" He asked, raising his eyebrow, his thick voice sending the jarring, condescending words.

Naruto's mouth opened in shock, which, as her lips turned upward, turned into a snarl. "Says the bad-blood Hyuuga."

Neji's eyes opened wide.

_The thing about Hyuuga's are, they're very proud. A few years ago, maybe eight or nine, now that I think about it, someone called a Hyuuga in the Second Brand a 'Bad-Blood' and the Hyuuga killed him in cold blood. The Coucil, despite the Hokage's objection, ruled it self-defense and the Hyuuga got away. Never call a Hyuuga 'Bad-Blood' unless you want to die. _

"Come on, or are you too afraid to fight a little blonde orphan girl?" Naruto asked, lips curling into a pout.

Neji's hands suddenly clenched, and the glowing blue increased; wordlessly saying 'You're going to regret that'.

Naruto made a clone. "Let's dance, girly boy." Naruto grinned, and the clone settled itself by her right hand.

They both moved toward each other at the same time.

* * *

"Ah, Jiraya, nice to see you," Kakashi said. He was sitting in a normal seat, next to one of the only empty ones in the stadium, and he offered it, thereby forcing the Sannin to sit next to him.

"Same here Kakashi," Jiraya mumbled, squirming in the seat, trying to keep his eye on the match.

There was a very long awkward silence, where they both tried to drown out the voice of the commentator, who was telling them all about the long history of the Hyuugas, still continuing his beginning rant, even though his introduction of Naruto had been 'An orphan rookie'.

"How come you never told me?" Jiraya asked.

Having expected a less-than-serious conversation, Kakashi frowned, but his gaze followed Jiraya's and he looked down at Naruto, who was surrounded by thirteen clones which were getting picked off by Neji Hyuuga one by one.

"I couldn't find you," Kakashi said, "And before you say I should have looked for you, may I remind you that except for, _one time_, sending 'him' a stuffed bear on her birthday three months late, you never interfered in her life."

Jiraya seemed burdened by a dark cloud, and he struggled to reply, "She's my…. my goddaughter, don't you think I should have been told that she was… was… with child?"

"No one knew she was pregnant, no one guessed, the other students called her 'Pudgy-chan'." Kakashi shook his head, "We thought in that bastard we had found someone to take care of her, when no one else wanted to."

Jiraya frowned, almost angry with himself, and then he asked, in an uncharacteristically small tone, "Why didn't you?"

"I was fifteen, I wasn't old enough to take care of a…" Kakashi immediately stopped himself.

"But _she's_ old enough, at twelve." Jiraya wasn't saying this to Kakashi, despite the way it fit into the conversation, he was saying it to himself.

"She'll be thirteen in a month, and she'd kill anyone who tried to take her little prince away from her." Kakashi informed him, "Besides, I have this strange feeling that she's a far better parent than mine were, or anyone I could think of."

"Naruto's making it up, that's why," Jiraya said, "And she doesn't care about him being a ninja, only that he's normal."

"Have you met him?" Kakashi asked, but he didn't wait for an answer, adding, "He's Konoha's most famous secret, ANBU and Jonin are asking me about him all the time, the Council feigns disinterest but you know they're curious. Everyone wants to know about the very first child of any of the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki's. It's quite a burden on him, and her for that matter, not to mention poor Sasuke."

Jiraya shifted again in his seat, Naruto and Neji were again at a stand off, the two of them slowly circling each other like deadly cats. "Why Sasuke?"

"She hasn't mentioned him?"

"No," Jiraya mumbled, "Just in passing, I didn't guess anything unusual from it; don't all the girls in Konoha have crushes on that lucky dog?"

Kakashi smiled, prepared to shock, "Yes, but Sasuke is enamored with her. He's annoying, spiteful, and stubborn, but whenever he'd try to take a break training or I found him dwelling on something that reminded him of that… massacre, I'd mention Naruto and he'd jump back up. I think, despite their differences, they do have things in common, and it gives him hope, to think about actually having a family of his own." The cyclops nodded, watching Naruto and Neji trade quick blows, neither of them managing to hit each other, "Sasuke admires her, for what she does with Saru, and it help him stop dwelling on his parents, he wants to have his own family."

"He's supposed to be married, isn't he? When he's fifteen?" Jiraya noted, and then whistled, "The Council sure isn't going to like his choice."

"No, but every ninja in Konoha will be rooting for them." Kakashi said, "Besides, I can't imagine anything better than Sharingan, coupled with Naruto's naturally ridiculous chakra, and backed up by whatever powers a child of a jinchuuriki would have."

Jiraya froze, his eyes seeing something that wasn't actually there, and a slow smile crossed his face, "Kami," he whispered, and then he cursed. "They're on the verge of breeding the most powerful clan yet."

"Hopefully," Kakashi said, "As long as nothing stupid interferes."

* * *

Orochimaru grinned in his seat, watching the jinchuuriki and the Hyuuga, finding them both evenly matched. The show of power at such a young age, the slight hints that he could barely make out of the jinchuuriki knowing the Rasengon and the totally blatant Kage Bunshin was enough to make him either incredibly nervous or incredibly happy, and he was certainly hoping incredibly happy.

With everyone at the games, and those who weren't supposed to be at the games also at the games, there would likely be no one watching over the weakest point in Konoha, and as the saying goes, a chain is only as strong as the weakest link. And the weakest link in Konoha was not their walls, or their citizens, but was their jinchuuriki; since everyone knew, that if you could avoid it, you don't make a jinchuuriki female, but if you have to, you definitely don't give it a child. He doubted there was anyone watching over the boy, but he only had to wait to find out.

"Neji Hyuuga is one of our prodigies," Sarutobi said, his old voice grumbling just because. He was trying to be friendly, "My lord Kazekage, Naruto Uzumaki is just one of our youngsters. She's very good with hands on training, the most improved."

Orochimaru nodded, the Kazekage hat tipping respectfully, and he licked his lips in anticipation, unable to wait to kill the man beside him.

* * *

Naruto's arm suddenly went numb, and she groaned aloud. It was bad enough that with the stupid Hyuuga poking her over and over she couldn't concentrate enough to bring out the Rasengon, but now her arm went numb.

Neji Hyuuga, triumphantly, stopped for a moment, "Don't give up now, you cannot hope to win. I am stronger, faster, and smarter than you could ever hope to achieve."

Naruto glared at him, panting heavily to catch her breath, wit being thrown out the window. She admitted, she had fun pushing her opponent's buttons, but suddenly she was getting very serious.

"You are a simpleton and a simpleton like you cannot know the drive to win," Neji informed, "You know nothing of hardship or family, you fight only because you want to, but there is nothing backing you. I have been forced to go threw horrors you cannot imagine, and I have come out strong. Don't think you can beat me, it is your destiny to fail."

Naruto stared at him, and then she bared her teeth, eyes flashing red.

Neji stepped back, surprised.

Her face was contorted, to some strange, ethereal pace, and the loose hairs about her face waved. Fangs, dark whiskers, and red eyes adorned her, though, strangely enough, it did not make her look any less beautiful, but it added an unearthly, frightening appearance to her, something he could almost feel. "You think you're smarter than me?" Naruto growled, "Fine, I'll give you that, I was never much of a genius anyway."

Fifteen clones appeared from nowhere, surrounding Neji, all with the same expression on their faces, and somehow Neji knew that they would be far harder to beat than she had been previously.

"You say you're stronger than me, just because you're a boy? I don't think so," Naruto said, and she and her clones stepped forward, two of them coming to stand by bother of her hands, "You think your faster than me, you really should see me run.

"And then, you think I'm a simpleton," Naruto narrowed her eyes, "Fine, I'm a simpleton, I don't belong to any special family like you. But I do have a family, I do know hardship. I have quite a lot backing me right now."

Three clones jumped in, attacking him, and Neji took a few moments to defeat them, and then immediately went into his stance, but the clones were just beyond his comfortable reach, so he stayed still.

"But, I have a pretty vivid imagination, and I'm pretty mad at you right now, so I can easily imagine all sorts of horrors for you," Naruto grinned darkly, and chuckled softly, "And if something you've been through has made you stronger, than I am a thousand times stronger than you are, because I have things in my past you could ever imagine."

"You were never a ghost, sir genius, I was," Naruto frowned, and then she reached, up with her two hands, which were holding strange, rotating balls of purple chakra.

The clones immediately closed in, and Neji spun around quickly, trying to create his defense. Successfully he blocked the attacks, but he knew another was coming, he fended off the strange, furious clones, but more and more came.

Naruto, pointing the Rasengons at him, closed her hands together with a resounding clap.

Neji, the clones, and everything disappeared in a sudden, white flash that blinded her. She blinked rapidly to clear her eyes, falling down onto the ground as she was unable to see, her features resorting back to their original selves, breathing hard from the sudden exhaustion draining her.

Finally, after a long, moment, where all she could here were faint whispers and her own panting, she whiteness cleared.

Neji Hyuuga stood, in the center of the clearing.

He took a step forward, and then three steps back, dropped to his knees, and fainted.


End file.
